Miami Christian edges closer to state final four with 7-2 victory over Westminster Academy
Strong pitching has been a staple of every recent baseball state championship Miami Christian has won.
The Victors have such quality arms again this season.
And if their recent outings are any indication, Miami Christian deserves to be considered the favorites to bring home what would be its fifth state title and fourth since 2018.
To do so, the Victors will need more outings like the one they got Saturday afternoon in a 7-2 victory over Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy in a Region 4-2A semifinal at Miami Christian.
It was the fourth consecutive season that Miami Christian and Westminster squared off in the postseason. The have Victors won three of those games and on Saturday earned some payback for a 9-4 loss to the Lions (15-13) in last year’s regional final.
Miami Christian will next host Fort Pierce John Carroll at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday for the chance to return to the state final four for the fourth time in six seasons.
“We brought back pretty much the same team as last year and we’ve really relied on our seniors,” Miami Christian coach Chris Cuadra said. “All year long, we’ve stuck together and been patient and pulled through.”
The Victors’ pitching has been very good throughout the season, holding opponents to three runs or fewer in 17 of 24 games.
Miami Christian’s pitching has been outstanding recently: The Victors have allowed only three runs in their past five games.
On Saturday, senior Jeffred Fermin led the Victors (20-4), pitching four innings and allowing one run on two hits and one walk while striking out five.
Fabio Peralta went 2 for 4 with two RBI while Alejandro Abreut went 1 for 2 with an RBI.
Leading 2-1 in the fifth inning against the Lions, Miami Christian loaded the bases with one out. After a pair of walks pushed across two runs, Christian de los Santos, a University of Miami signee, roped a single to left-center that scored Willy Mendez and Peralta to fuel a five-run frame that broke the game open.
“We’ve been lights out,” Cuadra said. “I’m a big believer that defense and pitching makes the difference. You can hit all you want, but if you can’t pitch, you’re not going anywhere.”
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Region 4-3A semifinal — Westminster Christian 3, Chaminade 2: A team more used to winning games by mercy rule than through tense one-run affairs survived a close on Saturday.
Thanks to the heroics of Ethan Puig and pitcher Austin Wiegandt, Westminster Christian found a way advance in the regional playoffs as the Warriors edged a rejuvenated ChaminadeMadonna team.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Puig, a University of Miami commit, hit a rope down the left-field line, scoring Eric Eikenberg from second to give the Warriors the lead for good.
Wiegandt, the team’s closer, normally enters late but had to come in Saturday in the third inning when starter Chris Estrada struggled. Wiegandt was dominant: Battling mid-90s heat, Wiegandt struck out only three batters but gave up only three hits and walked just one.
The No. 1 seeded Warriors, the fifth-ranked team in the state regardless of classification, improved to 23-4 and will now host No. 2 seed Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian in a Region 4-3A final at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
A program that once went to the state final four with regularity will be looking for only its second trip to state in the last nine years. The Warriors have been tied with Key West for the most state titles with 11 since winning their last one in 2015.
Chaminade starter Michael Gine struggled in the first inning, walking three and giving up an unearned run on a throwing error at third base. But after that, Gine was outstanding, using his offspeed curve to keep Westminster batters off balance. The Warriors plated another unearned run in the last of the third on another error to tie the game at 2-2 but never got a hit off Gine.
The Lions (16-10) got their two runs in the third with a huge break. After Estrada issued three consecutive one-out walks and was done for the day,
DH Miguel Rosa was Wiegandt’s first hitter. Rosa hit a grounder to shortstop that looked like it would be a 6-4-3 double play.
But the ball took a bad hop, bouncing over shortstop Manny Marin’s head and into left field, allowing two runs to score.
After issuing one-out walks to Jose Lopez and James Suarez in the last of the fifth, Gine was at 98 pitches and was removed from the game. Reliever Jack Miller managed to induce a fielder’s choice and a fly out to center to put out that rally, but in the sixth he walked Eikenberg, the leadoff hitter. Juan Godoy then laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt.
Then Marin, a University of Tennessee commit, drilled a shot to left field that would have cleared the fence if the wind had been blowing out as usual. But the wind was blowing in and Chaminade left fielder Jon Gourrier, with his back to the fence, brought it in for the second out. Puig then came up and drilled his game-winner, which was Westminster’s first hit of the day.
Region 4-4A semifinal — Cardinal Gibbons 8, Key West 7: Jason Vazquez had a double and three RBI to lead the Chiefs (22-4-2), who scored twice in the bottom of the seventh for a walk-off win after giving up five runs in the top of the inning. Eddie Marshall went 3 for 3 with a home run and an RBI. George Stringos went 2 for 3 with an RBI. Gibbons will host Mater Lakes in the regional final at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Region 4-4A semifinal — Mater Lakes 11, Sunset 1: Bobby Torres went 2 for 3 with four RBI to help the Bears (16-13) advance to the regional final for the first time since 2021. Andre Suarez went 2 for 2 with two RBI. Jeuri La Rosa went 2 for 2 with four runs scored, a double and an RBI.
Region 4-3A semifinal — Calvary Christian 10, NSU University School 3:
Carlos Lugo went 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBI and pitched four innings, striking out six and allowing one run on two hits and three walks to lead the
Eagles (21-6). Thomas Baxter went 2 for 3 with three RBI, a home run and a double. Cole Cleveland and Braden Rosenthal each had a home run.
Region 3-3A semifinal — North Broward Prep 6, Coral Springs Charter 3:
Mateo Gray had a two-run home run and Gian De Castro went 2 for 3 with a double to lead the Eagles (25-3). Nicholas Koorse pitched five innings, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out five. He also went 1 for 2 with an RBI. North Broward Prep will host Boca Raton St. John Paul II on at 7 p.m. Tuesday.