Alan McGonigle

In the first playoff game of the year, the Chiefs baseball team came out with an upset victory over the #1 seed Boca Raton Bobcats in the district tournament. The Chiefs won 4-1 due to the stellar pitching performance of Jacob Williams and Malik Lissone.

Jacob Williams threw for five frames, only giving up one earned run, while Malik Lissone came in for relief and closed the door with two shutout innings to give the Chiefs the W over the top team in the district.

It was not just a stellar pitching performance though, the Chiefs were able to take advantage of five costly errors by the Bobcats. Jorel Ortega drove in a run with a double to shoot the Chiefs up 2-0 in the second inning. M.J. Restivo had two vital stolen bases as speed killed the Bobcats.

Last year’s freshman All-american A.J. Orrico drove Restivo in to increase the margin between the two teams to 3-0. McKay Giffin put the nail in the coffin as he drove in another run to make the game 4-1, sending the Boca Raton Bobcats back home.

“It felt amazing; I couldn’t believe it,” said Giffin, a Senior who is the last of four brothers to play on a varsity Chief baseball team. “To come out in a district game and beat them, that really meant something.”

Coach Franco was excited about the win too.

“Well considering that we haven’t won a district game in two years, it feels really good,” said Coach Franco. “It was a great pitching performance by Jacob Williams and Malik Lissone who came in to close the door.”

Next up, the Chiefs will play rival Park Vista on Thursday on Park Vista’s diamond. The head coach is optimistic even though the Chiefs lost to the Cobras twice (6-0 and 4-2) during the regular season.

“We have played Park Vista pretty tightly in the games that we played this year,” said Franco.

As for who the Chiefs would throw on the mound for next game, Franco talked about the potential starters.

“We haven’t decided who we are going to start tomorrow, but at today’s practice we will figure it out,” said Franco. “I know that Malik Lissone will be available for next game as he only threw two innings, but Jacob Williams will not pitch.”

The Chiefs are looking to seal their historic upset with a district title against Park Vista. Tickets for the game are $6.