Pace Withstands Late Coral Springs Christian Rally

Proof that Monsignor Pace has improved since the start of the season came Wednesday night as the Spartans topped visiting Coral Springs Christian 7-5, in a non-district game. The outcome was a far cry from the second game of the season when the Crusaders blasted Pace by 10 runs.

“We’ve matured a lot as a team,” said Lorenzo Hampton. “We didn’t really know how to win at the beginning of the year. We’re still in the process of learning how to win. Once we figure it out, I think we’re going to be a dangerous team.”

As can be expected with a young team, Pace (6-17) didn’t make it easy for itself. The Spartans survived some shaky moments, including an infield error to start the game and mistakes on the base paths, as well as a baseball oddity when two pitchers hit the same player in the same at-bat.

“I was happy with the way we swung the sticks. I wish I could say the same about our baserunning and defense,” said Pace Manager Tom Duffin.

Pace generated some momentum as the playoffs near by putting up seven runs and 10 hits against a club that entered the game with a team ERA of 1.74 and 13 wins in its last 14 games. The Spartans shrugged off a slow start to notch its fourth win in the past seven games.

After Coral Springs Christian leadoff man Pemron Burrows stole two bases and scored on an RBI single from Touki Toussaint in the top of the first, Pace responded in the bottom of the inning with three runs and four hits off starter Colin Taylor, including a double by Leroy Garcia. The runs came home via RBI singles from Elliott Cutillas and freshman Anthony Boix, who was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. A double to left field from freshman catcher Andres Sanchez plated run number three.

Hampton, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound outfielder/pitcher, led off the third by turning on a fastball. His fourth home run of the season was lined just inside the left field foul pole and gave Pace a 4-1 lead. Hampton also walked twice and notched a save in his first relief appearance of the year.

Jonathan Reyes-Diaz sliced an RBI double to right-center to increase the cushion, and he was 2-for-3 on the day.

Sanchez’s second hit of the game — an alert opposite field single on a hit-and-run — helped bring home another run in the sixth.

Down 7-1, Coral Springs Christian (15-6) battled back in a wild sixth inning. The Crusaders scored four runs thanks in part to Cary Boniske’s second home run of the season, a two-run shot to left-center.

Three batters later, things really got interesting when Pace relief pitcher Peter Diaz was ejected from the game after he plunked Burrows just as the umpire called time out. Diaz was well into his wind-up when the umpire’s arms went up.

“We’re up 7-3 at that point. We’re not trying to hit anybody because we want to get outs,” Duffin said. “I don’t know what (the umpire) saw. He said it was intentional.”

Burrows was not awarded first base because he was hit after time was called, however, he soon arrived at first when he was hit again, this time by Diaz’s replacement Hampton. Despite a couple of likely bruises, Burrows had his team’s strongest game at the plate, reaching in all four trips via an error, two walks and a hit-batsman.

Before the end of the sixth, Coral Springs Christian scored two more runs on a passed ball and wild pitch, but the Crusaders’ rally fell short as Hampton settled down and retired the side in order in the seventh.

Earlier, both Diaz and winning pitcher Chris Bascilo worked out of two-on, one-out jams as Coral Springs Christian’s bats generated just five hits and struck out 10 times. The sixth inning rally proved to be too little, too late.

“All of sudden we got a little fire under us with one out in the sixth inning, but you can’t wait until the sixth inning to play with that kind of fire,” said Coral Springs Christian Manager Matt Cleveland. “We got what was coming to us tonight. They’re high school kids. We’ll learn from it. Better to lose a game now where you don’t play well rather than in a couple weeks.”

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