Calvary Christian Welcomes A New Crop Of Playmakers

The environment players grow up in at Calvary Christian is a unique and special experience.

The Eagles baseball team is built of guys who all came up together at the school since they were young, and they all share a family bond that carries onto the baseball field. It is a culture that promotes success through trust in your teammates, and staying disciplined within yourself.

Baseball is a game that teaches many lessons that transcend the events that happen on the diamond. These things are learned as people apply themselves to the things they love, and it shapes the way they grow. The Eagles have developed a strong sense of trust and understanding between the players due to how long most have known one another.

“We have a great intertwined connection at Calvary,” said senior Alec Berizzi. “We have a great fan base, and growing up at Calvary not just in sporting events but also through academics and activities we have a very close bond. I think that translates very well onto the baseball field. We have great chemistry and we mesh well.”

This strength has provided a big lift for a club that welcomes in many new players to its ranks this season. Although the guys are young as a group playing together for this squad, they all have benefitted from working their way through the system and being classmates with their teammates for years.

“It’s great to have a team that has one belief under God, just working hard for him and working for each other,” said junior Josh Lane. “It creates accountability to push each other and that’s exactly what we want. We’re thankful for everything we have here.”

Eagles manager Gregg Mucerino appreciates the way their baseball program works with uniform consistency in getting guys ready as they mature and age through. The varsity teams practice with the younger squads and the younger players get to learn how they do things and what their thinking is like. This approach helps a lot in the development process and therefore also ultimately in the team situation.

“The new face right now is youth, and we have a lot of younger guys without much game experience,” said Mucerino. “But they’ve been in the program and they’ve been working and are now ready for their turn. I think we’ve got a good team concept going; they all like each other, which is important. They are buying into the plan and working hard.”

It is a very junior-laden team this season, as the club returns only three seniors from a squad that graduated six core players. They look to replace roughly two-thirds of their lineup and more than half of their pitching production from a season ago. Coming off a campaign that fell short of expectations and ended with another missed chance at the regional playoffs, Mucerino considers every position still up for grabs.

There is a strong likelihood that the team will do some things by committee. An example of this is at the catcher position, where as many as four guys are all competing for the starting spot. The team would like to give some chances to each one among juniors Tommy Taborga, Colin Majewski and Jonah Kerrigan, as well as for sophomore Alex Arka.

The primary area where the Eagles look to improve is in their hitting, primarily their ability to hit with runners in scoring position. The team fell short in many close, low-scoring losses last season and they have focused on correcting that going forward. Each day practice begins with a drill where they work on getting down a bunt, moving a runner over and then driving him in against a drawn in infield or a dropped back defense.

“The concept of situational hitting is important now; the change in the bats has changed the game significantly,” said Mucerino. “So now when you do get guys on you’ve get to get them over and get them in. We have stressed that with these guys, just as we always have. At times last year guys tried to do too much and they got out of themselves a little bit. So that’s been the emphasis is to stay within yourself and put it in play. Force the defense to make a play.”

The offense will lean towards the guiding influence of their middle hitters, junior Andrew Gottfried and senior Connor Rowland. Rowland hit an even .300 a season ago, and Gottfried is an early commit to Florida Atlantic University who batted .302 with 16 runs as a sophomore starter. Gottfried has emerged as a big team leader who also excels on the mound, and is a guy that most members of the team look toward to set the right example.

“Andrew Gottfried is a great leader for our club,” said Lane. “All of our seniors are also great, and the juniors are just trying to help them by being leaders on the team. We want to focus on this year and what we have right now. Who knows what we have tomorrow? We’re thankful for what we have here and that’s all we need right now.”

The few seniors on the club appreciate that the big group of juniors does not spend any time looking ahead to next year when they will likely dominate the entire lineup as seniors. Players are focused on this moment and setting the right example by showing faith in their most experienced players. In turn, these proven veterans appreciate the way the starters exhibit their ability to also lead the way.

“I remember my freshman year I was scared of all the seniors,” said senior Alec Berizzi. “But I knew to look up to them and I took after them. Everybody can learn something, even me. I can learn from them too.”

Berizzi has proven himself to his teammates in every way, and he looks forward to the chance to step into a primary role in the pitching staff this year. The right-hander appeared in more than half of the team’s games in 2013, posting an impressive 2.86 ERA over 26 innings pitched.

“Last year the coaches gave me a really good opportunity to pitch as a starter, a reliever and as a closer,” said Berizzi. “I got to pitch all over and give coaches that flexibility that was a big aspect of our team. I just wanted innings however I could help the team. This year I am excited to move into strictly a starter’s role. You can’t always just rely on your hitters so you’ve got to go out there and do what you can do to give your team a chance to win. I try to keep the ball as low as possible. I just like pitching low and getting those ground ball outs, those easy outs.”

Mucerino has been pleased with Berizzi’s development, particularly how he has been consistent in throwing strikes. He throws a nice breaking ball and has good sink on his fastball. The Eagles put Berizzi in many big pressure moments last season and he showed a knack for getting outs. With him on the hill the team was either able to hold a lead or stay in the game when they were trailing.

Berizzi will team well at the front of the rotation, with Gottfried likely to assume the lead role after he posted a 0.50 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 37 strikeouts in 42 innings last year. The team has a lot of arms and they are still sifting through to see what guys like Noah Yager and Chris Turley can also do for them.

The pitching will be very important to help hold up against the tough teams they will face in their new district. Although the Eagles have typically played their district opponents on a regular basis, Mucerino points out that now they will be seeing their number one or number two pitcher since the contests are important district match ups. The move up to Class 4A is a sign of the growth of the school, and it excites the Eagles to be a part of that growth. They also know joining a district with teams like North Broward Prep, Chaminade-Madonna, Pine Crest, Somerset and University School means a tremendous challenge for a young team.

“It’s going to be very challenging,” agreed Mucerino. “We’re fighting to get there, but until we accomplish something we will still just be fighting to get there like everyone else. I think the team concept is a little thicker than it’s been in the past and that excites me as a coach. We’re excited about what God has brought here now, the new opportunities for the younger guys, and we’ll see how it all plays out.”

The players cannot control how much playing experience they have, and Mucerino is confident they will blossom quickly on the field. The positive environment at Calvary has always seemed to bring out the very best from its student-athletes, and this group has exhibited the best ingredient of all in their strong effort.

“We want to play hard for 21 outs, or 27 outs, or 35 outs if that is what it takes,” said Mucerino. “We are just going to keep coming at you with that blue-collar mentality. At the end of the day focusing on the execution of the little things and letting the big things happen.”

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