Lamberti, Cabreja Spark Coral Springs Christian in Win Over Gulliver Prep

Coral Springs Christian rallied from a three-run deficit to take down the perennial powerhouse Gulliver Prep Raiders 8-6 Wednesday night, giving the Crusaders a 2-0 record in the Adidas Diamond Bash at Florida Christian.

Nick Lamberti hit a two-run homer to start the rally, and Ryan Cabreja put the Crusaders ahead for good with a two-run, bases-loaded single.

“Coach told us to just do the little things,” said starting pitcher Billy Atkins, who threw four and two-thirds innings of five-run ball. “We just focus on ourselves, forget about the other team. When we play our game, we can play with anyone.”

The Crusaders jumped out to a 2-1 lead early on, but a booming bases-loaded double off the bat of Chris Chinea in the top of the fifth gave the Raiders a 5-2 lead after four and a half innings.

Coral Springs Christian jumped right back at Raiders starter Isaias Jasso with a lead-off single from Dominic DiCaprio on the first pitch of the bottom of the fifth. Up came Lamberti with a booming shot over the 345-foot marker in left center to cut the lead to 5-4.

“If you want to be a great team, you have to respond to adversity,” Crusaders coach Matt Cleveland said. “We’ve been telling Lamberti to wait for his pitch. He’s not a high-ball hitter, but he’s been swinging at it. He’s a thigh-high (hitter). He waited for it and drove it a long way.”

Lamberti’s two-run shot shifted momentum, a prelude to a bases-loaded walk that tied the game later in the frame.

“I got ahead in the count and just waited for my pitch,” Lamberti said. “(Jasso) threw me one there, and I just tried to put a good swing on it.”

The Crusaders loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the sixth for Cabreja, who slipped a seeing-eye bloop single in between the shortstop and left fielder that put Coral Springs Christian ahead for good 7-5.

Cabreja did it on the mound, too, dealing a crucial five outs before being pulled with the tying run at the plate. Toussaint recorded the final two outs to seal the win.

“We didn’t want to use (closer Touki Toussaint) because he’s got some soreness in his arm,” Cleveland said. “To his credit, he said he was good to go, and he got us there.”

Cleveland said Wednesday’s win was “a good team effort.”

“Our hitters hit, our pitchers got us the outs we needed,” Cleveland said.

The Crusaders look to continue their success at Hialeah LaSalle on Saturday.

Adrian Marin hit a home run and Gabriel Quevedo had a three-run double for Gulliver, which heads to Ransom Everglades on Friday.

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