Eagles hand nationally ranked Patriots first loss

PLANTATION — Calvary Christian Academy made a statement in a hostile environment on the road and showed they are among the elite teams in the county as Christian Scott pitched six strong innings and Mykanthony Valdez hit a go-ahead two-run double as the Eagles handed nationally ranked American Heritage its first loss of the season with a 5-1 victory on Friday.

Scott, a senior and University of Florida signee, allowed just one hit while striking out four over six innings. He worked around five walks to earn his third win on the mound for against the Patriots in his career.

The Patriots trailed 4-1 and had the bases loaded with two outs in the sixth, but their rally fell short as Santiago Garavito grounded out to short to end the inning.

“American Heritage has a great lineup and Christian settled down and we received a big performance from him,” Eagles coach Alan Conkel said.

The Eagles trailed 1-0 in the fifth before Valdez stepped up to the plate with runners at the corners and one out. Valdez hit a linedrive double to left to score Daley Weppner and David Judge.

The Eagles pushed across two runs in the sixth to extend the lead to 4-1. Roberto Pena had an RBI sacrifice fly and Dante Girardi scored on a passed ball.

Catcher Ben Rozenblum smashed an RBI double to left center to extend the lead to 5-1 in the seventh.

Pena pitched a scoreless seventh and struck out two to secure the victory for the Eagles.

The Patriots jumped out to the lead in the first. Catcher Julio Cortez ripped an RBI single to score Enrique Bradfield.

The Patriots were limited to two hits. Raynel Delgado had two hits to lead the Eagles.