HSBN Game of the Week: Warriors At Patriots

Friday night’s HSBN Game of the Week is a match-up that needs no extra hype to get people excited about it as Westminster Christian and Florida Christian renew a rivalry that is as old as memory.

“We would like to play them tonight if we could,” Warriors Manager Emil Castellanos joked. “I’m sure they would, too. Friday night is a great match up to watch. The intensity from all of the coaches and players on both sides is there. It’s what high school baseball is all about. This goes down in the books as one of the great ones.”

Patriots Manager Chris Brigman agrees that this is one game his players always circle on the schedule.

“This rivalry was here even long before my times, and when you come here it doesn’t take long to figure out this one is so important,” Brigman said. “There is so much history and respect between us, and anytime we get a game against them it’s something special. We’re excited and we’re looking forward to it.”

The Game of the Week concept was created by HSBN with the intention of raising money for the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Foundation, while also giving fans something to get excited about each week. Although this contest needs no extra hype, both programs are excited and grateful to be able to be a part of a greater cause for this latest chapter in the storied rivalry.

“The Game of the Week has become very exciting,” Castellanos said. “A lot of kids are talking about it, and I really enjoy reading the stories about the games.”

Playing in front of its home fans is a nice advantage for the host Patriots.

“We’re very blessed that we have a good, positive home crowd that gives us a great atmosphere,” Brigman said. “It’s always a great place to play and we like our chances.”

This home-field advantage may be even more important this time around, after the Patriots defeated the Warriors in last season’s district championship.

Although both teams still advanced to the regional playoffs, Westminster Christian lost on the road and was unable to earn a chance for a rematch against the Patriots.

On Friday that rematch finally arrives.

“We’d like to go in there and show them what we’ve got,” Castellanos said. “We know we will see them again, so we need to show we can beat them. We’re going into the jungle. It’s a great place to play… if you win. If you lose, then you want to get out of there as quick as possible.”

The Patriots will have the advantage of focusing all week on this game, after the team they were scheduled to play earlier this week asked them to reschedule the game to accommodate a school function.

“We won’t have to do a lot to motivate these guys for this one,” Brigman joked. “We just have to polish up for Friday. We still have a lot of work to do. We need to pay attention to the little details and get better with our short game.”

For a Westminster Christian team that is used to traveling to Florida Christian during the playoffs and thus often is playing with its season on the line, Friday will be a chance to get a game on their field as they prepare to play there again during the district playoffs this year.

But even if this were a preseason game, both squads would still treat it like it was Game Seven of the World Series.

“This one is definitely something special,” Castellanos agreed. “It’s one of the best games in the area. It’s a rivalry going back as long as I can remember. It’s always a battle and we have had some great, great wars before. It will just be two Christian schools going at it.”

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