Florida Christian Fights Back And Holds On To Win

Florida Christian ended Coral Springs Christian’s playoff run after being down eight runs in Friday’s 3A regional finals.

The Crusaders were able to jump on the board early, but the Patriots fought back to overcome the deficit, scoring 10 runs in the second inning and narrowly escaping a 13-12 win to advance to the state final four.

Florida Christian will play Melbourne Central Catholic at 1 p.m. May 20 at Jet Blue Park in Fort Myers.

Coral Springs attacked right from the start. Touki Toussaint singled up the middled, then stole second base. The Patriots pitcher Gaby Urratia struck out the next batter for the second out of the inning, but Eric Hepple was walked, setting up a two-run triple by James Buckley. Buckley’s long shot to center field was enough to bring both runners and put himself in scoring position. Devin Meyer followed with a chop up shot just getting by the infield, bringing home Buckley for a three-run lead.

The Crusaders continued to be aggressive. Abraham Alejandro got to first by way of a fielder’s choice. Pemron Burrows was walked and Toussaint was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Benito Santiago. Santiago held his bat and was walked to first, bringing in Alejandro for a run. Hepple then ripped a shot to right field for a double, bringing in two runs. Meyer singled to left field, sending Santiago home for a five run inning, and giving the Crusaders an 8-0 lead, two runs away from a 10-run mercy rule at the end of the top of the second.

The Patriots finally awoke in the bottom of the second inning. Zach San Roman and Michael Fernandez were walked to start the inning. A.J Puigcerver singled to left field, loading up the bases. San Roman was able to take advantage of a wild pitch and came home for the Patriots’ first run. Coral Springs was almost able to get out of the inning after striking out a batter for the second out of the inning, but Chris Gandara used some home-field advantage and popped a shot to right field, traveling far enough to go over the superficial right field fence for a three-run homer.

The Patriots didn’t stop there as the next three batters were walked by Coral Springs. Mike Tosar came home after another wild pitch got behind the home plate. Erik Montero hit a grounder to short stop that was mishandled, bringing in Ruben Someilan.

San Roman came up to bat again, and was walked to first. Fernandez followed with the bases loaded and cranked a shot to right center field, bringing in three runs for a double. Fernandez came home by way of an error to give the Patriots a 10-run inning.

The Crusaders fought back in the third. Burrows and Toussaint were hit by a pitch, putting the runners in scoring position. Santiago’s single drove in Burrows and Toussaint stole home, tying the game at 10.

But the Patriots answered again with a deep swat to left field by Erik Montero for a three-run home run, giving the Patriots’ a three-run lead.

Both teams searched deep into their bullpen looking for someone to slow down the array of hitting by both teams. The Patriots found that in sophomore Alex Valverde, who was called to the mound in the third inning and gave up just three hits while striking out four before being relieved in the sixth with two outs in hand.

Going into the final inning Coral Springs trailed by three and needed to rally to keep their season alive. Alejandro was walked to start the inning and then Toussaint drove a pitch over the right-field wall for a two-run homer, putting the Crusaders within one run, but Florida Christian’s Christian Pelaez struck out the last two batters to end the game.

Coral Spring Christian wrapped up an impressive 22-7 record, including an 8-0 mark in 3A-14 play. The Crusaders had earbed their first two regional wins in school history before Friday’s loss.

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