Chaminade Cruises To 16-0 Shutout Victory, Earns Berth Into Tournament Semifinals

After surviving a tough battle in Tuesday’s series opener, Chaminade-Madonna was not taking any chances with Deerfield Beach again.

So on Thursday night, with the opportunity to stamp their spot into the HSBN/Perfect Recruits Fall Classic semifinals, the Lions were aggressive early and often and did not take their foot off the gas pedal until the game was well decided.

Chaminade capitalized on every opportunity it saw, cruising to a 16-0 shutout to gain a berth into the semifinals. The Lions will face off against Douglas at 5 p.m. Monday at Coral Springs High School.

“We were sloppy the other night, and they battled the heck out of us,” said Lions coach Mike Moss, whose team overcame a furious Bucks’ rally in Game One before emerging with a 6-5 win on Tuesday evening. “We didn’t want to wait around for that to happen again tonight. We came out and played well tonight, and Brandon threw very well on the mound.”

Chaminade senior starting pitcher Brandon Burgess was in control, limiting the Bucks to only an infield single to shortstop Andre Campbell in the first inning. Campbell was caught stealing and Burgess retired the next batter with a strikeout, a theme he used to end each of his four innings of work. He closed with seven strikeouts while throwing 31 of his 46 pitches for strikes, and he faced only one batter over the minimum. The right-hander nearly recorded his second no-hit performance of the tournament.

The Lions scored in each inning, pounding out 11 hits and also benefiting from some Bucks’ miscues and several walks. They batted around in two innings and made certain to stifle any chance of a Bucks comeback.

“We’ll bounce back. This was a great experience for us,” Deerfield coach Scott Bragg said. “We got an opportunity to move on, and it gave our kids an experience like in the regular season. We are still filling holes from last year’s seniors, and this got some playing time for some freshman to get some experience.”

Dustin Hanley closed the top of the fifth in 1-2-3 fashion with a pair of strikeouts to seal the victory, which was called early because of the mercy rule.

“We’re excited to compete against these teams in this tournament,” Moss said. “We get a chance to play Douglas, and we are playing them this spring. That’s what fall baseball is all about.”

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