North Broward Prep Belts Four Solo Homers, Beats Calvary

Sarkis Ohanian, preparing to stroke a single for North Broward Prep.

A second inning home run by Josea Lazaro got North Broward Prep on the score board first last night against Calvary Christian – and it set the tone for the game.

Calvary responded quickly as they pushed four runs across the plate in the top of the third to take an early 4 – 1  advantage.  Lead off batter, sophomore Emilio Desilva, drew a one out walk,  his second of three on the night. The speedster quickly stole second and rode home on Tyler Middlebrooks’ RBI single to right center field. 

However, Middlebrooks was nailed trying to stretch his gapper into a double.  Taylor Gushue then reached on an error, and after Dalton Dinatale drew a free pass, DH Seth Natal blasted a three-run homer deep over the RCF fence to give Calvary a 4 – 1 lead.  Stephen Barnett continued the rally by legging out a slow roller up the third base line.  But after Chris Walkerow doubled down the left field line, North Broward Prep pitcher Josh Steigelfest stranded them both with a much needed strike out.

North Broward followed by scoring their second run without logging a hit as three walks sandwiched around a hit batter closed the gap to 4 – 2.

Calvary Christian was finished scoring for the night as the North Broward Prep pitchers pounded the strike zone relentlessly, racking up eleven consecutive outs via K’s on their way to a most impressive total of 16 K’s on the night. 

In two innings of work, “Laz” Lazaro notched six K’s,  followed by Kevin Fagin who struck out the side in the one inning he pitched.  Closer Sarkis Ohanian’s 90 + MPH fast ball added two more K’s to to the total in the seventh, stranding the tying run at third in the presence of Dinatale, who drilled a one-out double down the right field line and then moved to third on a pass ball.

In the bottom of the fifth, and down 4 -2 , the North Broward bats, which had produced only three hits, really came alive.  Number three batter, powerful Justin Bard crushed a pitch and sent it sailing high and  deep into the night. On the very next pitch,  clean-up hitter Mike Vigliarolo matched the feat with an equally prodigious shot of his own, to knot the score at 4 – 4.  After setting the next two batters down on strikes, Walkerow yielded what proved to be the game winner as Christian Correa, who had hit a laser shot so hard off the left field fence that he could only manage a single leading off the previous inning, got hold of another one and lined it over the right center field fence some 375 feet from home.

“We have some pop in the middle of our line-up, so the long balls didn’t surprise me,” head coach Brian Campbell said of the four-homer barrage.  “You saw those balls.  They were straight up towards center field.  The boys weren’t pulling off the ball.  They stayed on it pretty well,” Campbell beamed.

Regarding Ohanian’s eye-popping mound ‘darts’, the coach had this to say. “The kid has a tremendous work ethic and real good stuff.  I don’t see any limitations there.  He’s got all kinds of ability and all kinds of opportunity.”  As to his senior-full roster, he added, “most of my boys are already committed to colleges,” adding that Ohanian has already signed with Duke.

Bard is heading to Wagner College, Vigliarolo to St. Louis University, Lazaro to Villanova, Nick Marsit to Dennison College, while several other prospects are looking toward the amateur draft in June. With all these prospects it is quite obvious that this team is one opposing teams should be afraid of facing this season.

Calvary Christian wasn’t too shabby either. “I expect good production from our bats,” said Head Coach Gregg Mucerino , “but  we gotta do a better job with the two strikes.  We had too many punch-outs tonight.  We’ll work on that.  I look for us to build momentum and be strong.”

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