Florida Christian Moves To 4-0 Win With Over Coral Gables

Florida Christian came into the 2016 season flying a bit under the radar. With the first two weeks almost in the books, nobody will be looking past the Patriots much longer.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Patriots traveled to Coral Gables and used an eight-run fifth inning to erase a 3-0 deficit en route to a 12-5 win.

The game started out as a pitchers duel as both Florida Christian’s Christian Coipel and Coral Gables’ Tyler Santana went through the first two innings unscathed. Santana did not allow a base-runner in those two innings, while Coipel had to wiggle out of a jam in the second to keep the game scoreless.

After neither team scored in the third, the Cavaliers broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth. David Atkins reached on an error to start the inning. Elijah Eusebio followed with a double to left, and suddenly Gables was threatening.

After a strikeout and a walk loaded the bases, Atkins scored the first run of the game on a passed ball. A Brian Garcia then scored Eusebio and and Harrison Stumpler.

In the fifth, the Patriots offense woke up. Alex Cerda, the hitting catalyst on the day, led off the inning with a double. After Cerda moved to third on a passed ball, Ruben Someilan singled, cutting the lead to 3-1. The Patriots proceeded to score seven additional runs in the inning, sending 12 batters to the plate.

“That was a big inning for us,” said Patriots Manager Chris Brigman. “Especially after falling behind. Tyler really held us in check until we were able to get going.”

In the sixth, Florida Christian scored four more runs to put the game away.

Cerda finished the day 2-for-3, with two doubles and three RBIs.

“Alex had a nice day at the plate,” said Brigman. “Hopefully he can build on that heading into the weekend.”

The Patriots will close out the week with two non-district games, Friday against Mater Lakes Academy, and Saturday, in the HSBN Game of the Week, on the road versus Belen Jesuit.

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