Calvary Christian Outlasts CS Christian In District 3A-14 Opener

Ryan Reilly leads off first shortly after delivering the go-ahead single in the Eagles 7-3 win over the Crusaders.

Calvary Christian knows how it feels to beat Coral Springs Christian during the regular season. Last year, the Eagles defeated the Crusaders twice in district play in the regular season before falling to the Crusaders in the district championship. The teams played their District 3A-14 opener Friday, and it again was Calvary that finished with the regular season upper hand.

The Eagles put on a gritty performance on a day when Crusaders ace Billy Atkins was at his best and nearly unhittable for most of the afternoon. Calvary used a three-run fourth and a four-run sixth to come from behind and post a 7-3 victory.

The game started out on a high note for CS Christian. The Crusaders jumped on Eagles starter Austin Sovay in the first, putting together three consecutive singles by Luke Bramos, Ryan Milner and Zach Butler. Touki Toussaint cleared the bases with a double, and the 3-0 lead looked for much of the day like all that Atkins would need.

The Crusaders senior struck out 10 in his five innings of work. The defense let him down in the fourth when the Eagles tied the game. Three errors and singles by Nick Kumar and Abraham Alejandro tied the score at three.

Crusaders’ coach Matt Cleveland pleads his case after a bizarre play at the plate in the sixth.

In the Eagles’ half of the sixth, a two-out error opened the door for a four-run rally. The rally consisted of four consecutive singles by Stephen Barnett, Luke Poirier, Ryan Reilly and Andrew Gottfried. The fourth run of the inning was scored on a bizarre rundown play during which the home plate umpire deferred to the field umpire to make the call on a play at the plate. The field ump ruled the runner safe, and the rally was complete.

“The difference tonight was we didn’t give up walks and we didn’t make errors,” said Eagles head coach Gregg Mucerino. “They’re an outstanding team over there. Billy Atkins threw the best I’ve ever seen him throw. For our club, this year, this was a big win.”

With Eagles starter Sovay not having his best stuff, Calvary turned to middle relievers Knox Poole and Gottfried. The pair shut down the Crusaders bats for six innings, allowing only one hit along the way. Eagles closer Andrew Liberty then took over, and after giving up two hits, Liberty worked out of the jam and secured the win for Calvary.

Calvary Christian players celebrate their four-run rally in the sixth.

CS Christian walks away from this game feeling like they let one slip away after taking the early 3-0 lead, and head coach Matt Cleveland spoke after the game about both his starting pitcher and his opponent.

“Billy has had some tough luck early on this year in the Gulliver game and today. He has pitched great, and I believe at this point he is one of the top pitchers in the county. But, you’ve got to give them (Calvary) credit. They stayed in the game, they battled, they believed, and that’s what high school baseball is about. That’s what we’re missing right now. We scored early, and then our guys think the game’s over. We’ve got a lot of learning to do. We’re going to get back to working hard and just get the new guys playing baseball the right way.”

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