Zion Comes Out On Wrong End Of Pitchers’ Duel

In a tight game it is typically the team that can capitalize on a mistake that comes out on top.

Unfortunately for host Zion Lutheran, such was the case in Thursday’s cross-county matinee as visiting Trinity Christian broke a scoreless game in the top of the seventh with some good fortune to pull out a 4-0 victory.

Even though both these squads typically supply plenty of offensive firepower, on Thursday afternoon they were both equally working against the elements as a strong swirling wind blew in from left field all game long.

This curveball from Mother Nature greatly affected the way both teams approached the contest, and put extra pressure on both team’s pitchers and defense.

Zion Lutheran came into the contest averaging over six runs per inning, while going up against a pitching staff that had surrendered 90 runs in its first eleven games. But nature’s elements equalized these factors and forced both sides to adjust accordingly.

For six innings the Lions (6-4) had weathered those challenges, but in the top of the seventh a few tough breaks became the difference between a win and a loss.

“The wind was just gushing everywhere, and your approach is different at the plate,” Zion Manager Mike Dobre said. “I think our team stepped it up. We were hitting the balls hard, but we were hitting it right at them. Trinity Christian is a really good hitting team and they made some plays, but in the last inning we paid for our mistakes.”

The Warriors (7-5) led off the top of the seventh with consecutive singles off of Zion starter Alex Ernestine, and then both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt to get into scoring position. After Bruce Martin was hit by a pitch to load the bases, it was Trinity’s Jowenrick Daanjti who supplied the dagger with an RBI single up the middle to push across all the runs it would ultimately need.

Trinity added some insurance support by drawing a pair of bases-loaded walks and then hitting a sacrifice flyout, but by then the damage was done.

“It could have gone both ways,” Warriors Manager Miguel Cuello said. “There will be games when we score fifteen runs, and there will be games where we’re going to have to make a run. It’s just part of the game.”

The lefty starter Ernestine battled through six and a third innings, pounding the strike zone for 65 strikes on his 97 total pitches. Although the Warriors managed baserunners in every inning, the hard-throwing ace was able to work his way out of trouble to keep his Lions in a position that they could jump ahead at any time.

“I wasn’t expecting to give up any runs with our ace on the mound,” Dobre said. “They are a good hitting team. But we showed we can compete with a Trinity Christian team who can hit with anybody. We gave up zero runs for six innings, and it gives them confidence. Now we understand that we cannot make even a couple of mistakes in a game like this.”

Ernestine fell to 2-3 with the loss, while recording three strikeouts to raise his team-leading total to 33 on the season.

“That kid throws hard,” Cuello said. “It worked even better for him with the wind blowing in.”

Shortstop JR Meneses led the offense by going 2-for-3, including a standup double in the bottom of the fourth inning when he crushed a high fastball deep into the left-center field gap to give Zion its first scoring opportunity.

Trinity avoided any damage as the third baseman Daanjti made a nice back-handed scoop on a scorcher off the bat of Ernestine and then spun around to make a perfect throw to first to record the final out of the inning.

It was just one of several big plays by both defenses, and the Lions recorded two double plays on long flyouts in which they doubled off the runner on the bases.

“Our defense made some nice plays,” Dobre said. “It looks like the ball is going to drop but it just stays up there, so we were able to catch them a few times.”

After Palm Beach County won the HSBN Preseason Challenge over Broward and Miami-Dade Counties, Thursday’s result evened things up at 8-8 between Broward and Palm Beach County teams playing one another thus far in 2013.

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