Chaminade Rallies Fall Short In 9-7 Loss To Trinity Christian

Preseason games have a tendency to be ugly. Such was the case Wednesday as Trinity Christian topped Chaminade-Madonna 9-7 in a slugfest in the HSBN South Florida Preseason Challenge.

As the Lions completed their two-game preseason week, Manager Mike Moss was pleased with how his team hit the ball, even without some of its starting players.

“We have a few guys on a school retreat, so it was hard, we were playing a lot of guys with no varsity experience,” said Moss. “It was good that these guys were able to get into these games and experience this level of baseball. It will help us in the future. We have to tighten up our defense a bit, get some of our guys back, and we should be OK going into next week.”

As Moss was reflecting on his team’s performance, Trinity Christian Manager Miguel Cuello was doing some reflecting of his own.

“I believe that at this time of the year, the pitchers are usually a little ahead of the hitters,” Cuello said after the game.

What happened next was Cuello trying to then put in perspective a game in which his team and Chaminade Madonna combined for 16 runs and 23 hits.

“This was the first game of the season for us, and I just told the guys that there was no pressure, and that they should just go up there and get their swings. They did that, and the results were good. We aren’t going to have this type of offensive explosion every game, so it is good to enjoy it now.”

Trinity did most of their damage in the first two innings, scoring seven times. Bruce Martin, the Warriors lead-off hitter, was in the middle of both innings’ rallies. In the first, Martin reached on an error and scored. In the second Martin walked and scored his second run of the game. Also scoring in both innings was Darren Seferina.

The big blow in a five-run second came off the bat of Angeliny Maduro, who doubled to deep left, driving in two runs. Maduro also had a single in the first, and finished the day 3-for-3, with a walk and two RBIs.

Chaminade added their own offensive fireworks beginning in the top of the second. Base hits by Jose Colina and Shane Stokelman started the four run frame. Jordan Spicer and Julian Pino each had two-RBI doubles in the inning, giving Chaminade what would be their only lead of the game. Mitch Moorman was a catalyst for the Lions offense, going 3-for-4, with a double.

The middle innings produced little in the way of scoring. Chaminade cut the lead to 8-6 in the sixth. Colina delivered his second hit of the game, a two-run double, to trim the lead, but that would be as close as the Lions would get.

Trinity added an insurance run in their half of the sixth, and Serefina came in and closed out the win in the seventh.

Although they secured the win, and hit the ball well, Cuello indicated that the preseason is a time for evaluation, and that with another game Thursday, many decisions still need to be made.

“We’re still looking to find the right lineup heading into the season,” the Warriors manager said. “Today we tried one lineup, tomorrow we may try another. Hopefully these two games will give us some clarity going into the season next week, and we can have a lineup set by then.”

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