Heritage, Calvary Christian to play in USA invitational
Two Broward County high school baseball teams will face top competition from across the country in the USA Baseball National High School Invitational in Cary, N.C. with play beginning today.
American Heritage returns to the esteemed tournament for the second consecutive season while Calvary Christian joins the Patriots. The two are ranked top-five nationally by MaxPreps.
Heritage (10-1), ranked fifth, opens at 12:30 p.m. against Santiago from Corona, Cal. The Eagles (13-1), who have given the Patriots their lone loss of the season, are ranked fourth by MaxPreps but as high as No. 1 by Perfect Game, are set for a 1:30 p.m. first pitch against Hattiesburg (Miss.). Future opponents among the 16-team field depend on wins and losses. Openinground winners face off against other winners on Thursday but not in a bracket format.
After going 3-1 last year in the guaranteed four games each team gets through Saturday, Heritage aims to use that experience to take the next step and win it.
“Just going to the tournament, going out of state — typically, when you play high school baseball you don’t travel — so being able to get on a plane, prepare, stay in a hotel, stay overnight, I think that gives you experience because it’s not new to you,” said American Heritage coach Bruce Aven, leading one of only a few returning schools invited last year, which includes defending champ Orange Lutheran out of California.
“That’s the only advantage you get. As far as playing on the field, the teams are different, the players are different. You don’t know who you’re going to face.”
That contrasts from the familiarity with local foes where a team knows what they’re getting into facing a particular opponent.
The Patriots, seeking their first state title since 2012, have gotten offensive production from the whole lineup but namely senior third baseman Triston Casas, a Miami signee, and Florida-signed middle infielder Cory Acton — each with 20 RBI and hitting over .440. Catcher and USF signee Julio Cortez is hitting .438 with 19 RBI while sophomore center fielder and leadoff man Enrique Bradfield leads the team with a .483 average.
Aven will start junior Ryan Cabarcas today with the idea he can keep him under a pitch limit where he can use him again on Saturday, per tournament rules. When senior hurler and UM signee Bailey Mantilla takes the mound, Aven hopes he can go deep into that contest.
Calvary is deep with its arms as well. Senior and UF signee Christian Scott, a key cog in the Eagles’ state title run two seasons ago, can go the distance any time he takes the hill. Junior West Virginia commit Skylar Gonzalez has a 0.64 ERA.
Roberto Pena, another Gators signee, has been effective pitching and with the bat, playing third base, and is tied for the team lead in RBI with 18 (FIU-signed shortstop Raynel Delgado also has 18 and leads the team in steals).
Junior Ben Rozenblum, who was with Scott as a freshman on the title-winning team, leads the Eagles with a .471 average and .617 on-base percentage. Sophomore Dante Girardi, the son of former MLB manager Joe Girardi, has scored 21 runs.
Last year, Archbishop McCarthy joined Heritage at the invitational. The Patriots and Eagles will look to break a run of California teams winning the tourney title. A school from the Golden State has won five of the six championships — with Orlando First Academy the only other winner in 2014 — and all runner-ups.
dfurones@sunsentinel.com