Marin, Collera lead Westminster Chr. back to state tourney with win over Calvary Chr.
Westminster Christian’s baseball team has a sign on its outfield wall that reads “11 State Titles.” That’s a lot.
It’s tied for the most in state history.
But the Warriors have been looking for a reason to change it for almost a decade.
On Tuesday afternoon, Westminster earned the chance to take one of its most talented teams in recent memory to compete for that elusive 12th state crown following a 9-4 victory over visiting Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian in the Region 4-3A championship.
The Warriors (24-4) will face Jacksonville Trinity Christian in a
Class 3A state semifinal next Tuesday at 1 p.m. at Hammond Stadium in
Fort Myers.
“You never know when you can make it back to the promised land and every year is a unique year,” Westminster coach Emil Castellanos said. “You have to click at the right time and you have to have the right group of guys.”
Senior shortstop Manny Marin and senior pitcher Lazaro Collera were not with the Warriors the last two seasons when their hopes of competing for another title evaporated in tough home losses in the regional playoffs.
Each played a huge role in the Warriors’ victory over the Eagles (21-7), who were aiming to make their first state final four appearance since advancing four consecutive seasons from 2016-2019.
Collera, a University of
Miami signee, gutted through some tough spots to give Westminster 6 ⅔ innings before being removed with two outs in the seventh after he reached the 105-pitch count limit. Collera gave up four runs on five hits, including a second-inning home run to Calvary Christian’s Cole Cleveland, and walked five, but struck out six. Junior Milan Porras only needed one pitch to record the final out.
Westminster Christian backed their starter at the plate, however, as Marin belted two of the Warriors’ four home runs in the game, which came at crucial times.
Marin’s solo blast in the third pushed Westminster’s lead to 3-1 right after Cleveland tied the game following Talan Beckford’s first-inning home run for the Warriors.
Both homers came off Calvary Christian ace Braden Rosenthal, who lasted only 2 2⁄3 innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits and two walks while striking out three.
Calvary Christian cut Westminster’s lead to 4-3 in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Thomas Baxter and a sacrifice fly by Johnathan Gomez. But Collera induced an inning ending fly out from Carlos Lugo to minimize the damage.
Westminster then used the long ball again to pull away from the Eagles when sophomore Erik Eikenberg hit a solo homer with one out and Marin followed three batters later with a two-run home run, bringing his total to 11 for the season.
Region 4-4A final — Cardinal Gibbons 8, Mater Lakes 0: It’s been 36 years since Cardinal Gibbons won its first and only state high school baseball championship.
Following Tuesday’s victory, the Chiefs are within two victories of a second.
Gibbons (23-4-2) advanced to a state semifinal game against Mulberry on May 21 at 4 p.m. at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.
Under coach Jason Hamilton in his 26 years as leading the helm, the Chiefs came up short of winning a 2019 state title. Hamilton’s 2020 season was perhaps even better, but the COVID-19 outbreak wiped out the opportunity.
“We were there in 2019, lost in extra innings and brought the whole team back in 2020,” Hamilton said. “We thought we had a better team then. We expected to make another run. You can’t take for granted what it takes to get to Fort
Myers. Once the guys understand what a special moment that is for the teams that have won before, they’ll get the experience especially for the seniors because there’s nothing like it.”
Starting pitcher Michael Kass in combination with reliever Jack Campbell held the Bears to one hit, while striking out 10.
Bears starting pitcher Alfrin Rosario struggled from that start, walking three batters in the first inning, two of which scored. He fell behind in the count in eight batters he faced over three innings he pitched.
Region 4-2A final — Miami Christian 6, Fort Pierce John Carroll 3: The Victors had won seven in a row and gone nearly a month during that stretch without trailing in a game at any point.
But when Carroll jumped all over the Victors scoring three runs in the first inning and a half, it was a stunned and silent Miami Christian dugout.
Victors’ coach Chris Cuadra knew his kids and that there would be no panic. He was right.
Miami Christian immediately struck back with three runs in the bottom of the inning to get the game tied, settled down with good defense and pitching from the bullpen over the next four innings and finally struck for three runs in the bottom of the sixth which proved to be the difference.
The win advances Miami Christian back to the state final four where the Victors (21-4) will be the No. 2 seed and take on No. 3 Orlando First Academy on Monday at 1 p.m. at Hammond Stadium in Fort
Myers. The Victors will be looking for their fourth state title in the past six seasons.
The payoff for the Victors came in that sixth inning when shortstop Ronny Cruz, who had just made a sparkling defensive play in the top of the inning to make the final out and put out a John Carroll threat, stepped up with a runner on first and one out and drilled a deep shot off the left field fence for an RBI double.
Jendy Gonzalez came around to score to break the tie and, one out later, Fabio Peralta and Alejandro Abruet delivered back-to-back RBI doubles as the Miami Christian dugout erupted.
— BILL DALEY Region 3-3A final — North Broward Prep 13, Boca Raton St. John Paul II 0: North Broward Prep (26-3) wasted no time jumping all over visiting Boca Raton St. John Paul II on Tuesday night, scoring seven runs in the first inning.
The Eagles, the top seed in the Class 3A state bracket, will next take on Fort Myers Bishop Verot in the state semifinals at 10 a.m. next Tuesday at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers. North Broward Prep will make its fourth consecutive appearance at the state final four and sixth overall as it looks to win its third state title in four seasons.
Senior and UCF commit Mateo Gray struck out eight and walked one, allowing only three hits over five innings to pick up the win. Gray also went 1 for 3 with an RBI at the plate.