Calvary Christian Continues Hot Play With 11-1 Win Over North Broward Prep

Perhaps Calvary Christian Head Coach Greg Mucerino should consider honoring one senior at each game the Eagles play next season. For the third time in the past couple of weeks, Calvary was involved with a senior night, and like in the previous two, the Eagles came out on top.

Calvary defeated North Broward Prep 11-1 Thursday evening in a game where the long ball was the difference. The Eagles received two big blows off the bats of Tyler Middlebrooks and Dalton DiNatale. Middlebrooks delivered a grand slam in a seven run third inning explosion, and DiNatale put the game out of reach with his grand slam in the sixth.

On the mound for Calvary Christian was senior Seth Natal. Early on, it looked like the outcome would be completely different, as Natal struggled to find his command. In the first two innings, Natal hit three NBP batters, and walked another. Despite the control problems, Natal managed to give up only one run in the innings.

The third inning was the pivotal point of the game. NBP loaded the bases on consecutive singles by Justin Bard, Mike Vigliarolo, and Christian Correa. With his back against the wall, Natal dug deep and came up with three straight strikeouts to escape the jam. From there, Natal settled down and finished with a complete game, seven strikeout performance.

“I just got control of my fastball,” said Natal, when asked what the difference was after the third inning. “I was leaving everything up early, and after the second I came in and asked what was wrong, and coach told me to stay back, that my arm was a little bit late. When I fixed that, my velocity picked up and everything changed.”

Middlebrooks and DiNatale may have hit the head-turning shots of the night, but as is almost always the case with Calvary Christian, the offense was led by lead-off hitter Emilio DeSilva. The senior reached base four times, with two hits, a walk, and a hit batsman. It was DeSilva’s at-bat in the sixth that exemplified his effort on this night.

After Stephen Barnett led off the sixth with a single, DeSilva had the best at-bat possibly of the year in Broward County. He off pitch after pitch in the thirteen pitch at-bat, and finally looped a ball down the right field line for a single. Two batters later, DiNatale hit NBP reliever Sarkis Ohanian’s fastball for the Eagles second grand slam of the night.

“I don’t like striking out,” said DeSilva, speaking about the resolve he showed in his thirteen pitch at-bat. “I make a point to work on it in practice. Just anything close I’m swinging. I’ve only struck out once all season. I guess I just see the ball better with two strikes.”

Calvary has been one of the hottest teams in the county down the stretch, with Thursday’s win being their ninth in a row. The eleven runs scored was also the third straight game the Eagles have accomplished that feat.

The win over NBP completes a perfect 4-0 record against District 14-3A teams this season, a district many believe is the strongest in the county. Among the 14-3A victims were American Heritage, NBP, Pine Crest, and Coral Springs Charter, all teams with at least fourteen wins on the season.

“We’re a family,” said Mucerino, after watching his team have yet another impressive offensive performance. “This team has come together, and I can’t say enough about the camaraderie and the way guys are stepping up. It’s been an awesome team to coach, and it’s been a great run, and I’m just looking forward to it continuing.”

On the other side of the field, NBP Head Coach Brian Campbell understands that sometimes in baseball, a team like Calvary comes in and simply has a great night.

“It happens sometimes in baseball,” said Campbell, “You run into a hot team like that, with a guy throwing good stuff, it happens. But we’ll bounce back, we have three days to sure this thing up. We’re going to go back to focusing on the little things, and we’ll be fine.”

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