Calvary Honors V.E Students With “Heart To Heart” Win

The Calvary Christian Eagles left the field with more than just a victory Friday afternoon. A beautiful day blessed a beautiful pregame celebration called “Heart to Heart Day”,which shared the spotlight with the Eagles’ big win in their annual charity game.

Before the game started, 12 “Varying Exceptionalities ” students paired up with a player and heard their names announced over the loudspeaker as they took the field. Cameras flashed and smiles across the diamond and bleachers from the players, coaches, fans and kids proved another success in Calvary’s Heart to Heart Day.

“First we got to honor the VE kids today, the special needs kids which is always a nice thing,” said Eagles Manager Gregg Mucerino “We are starting to get some guys back healthy, so this was a good time to let them get some at-bats. Hopefully we can start moving forward with guys healthy on the mound and the plate.”

Calvary Christian ended their two-game skid with a 17-0 win over Sheridan Hills. After not scoring in their last 22 innings, the Eagles unleashed their bats Friday with 18 hits in a shortened game. Junior Josh Lane led the way for the Eagles, as he went 4-for-4 with two doubles, five RBIs, four runs and a stolen base.

“I always want to keep the same approach. We have been working lately to try to get in a runner from third with less than two outs. We need take advantage of opportunities, move runners over and do your job at the plate,” said Lane. “I just tried to keep my same approach today. The pitching was different and you do have to sit back a little more, but you have to try to keep the same approach and drive the ball the other way.”

Alex Berizzi started on the mound for the Eagles and threw a perfect two innings. Berizzi needed just 20 pitches to get out of the first two frames, and he struck out five of the six he retired.

“Today was good to get some work in on the mound. Fastball was good, curve-ball felt good, and I worked on my change up,” said Berizzi. “We had a tough beginning of the season, me personally as well as the team. We had some injuries but we have come together and fought. Those long games we played were learning lessons, and it was good to have those to prepare for later in the season. We need to get our bats going a little more, our pitching, defense, everything in general. Today we took a turn for the better and we need it to continue.”

Calvary Christian’s schedule is among the hardest in the county this year. At almost the halfway point they are looking to catch stride to make a run in the second half of the season. Mucerino started to see his team come together, as players return from injuries and start making their way into the lineup.

“It is a tough district, no question, there is a lot of parity. We are just striving to get better everyday and hopefully clicking on all cylinders at the end when it matters,” said Mucerino. “That the goal, and we are starting to get guys healthy. The last kid [Noah Yager] that threw is a plus and that’s going to help us.”

Sophomore Noah Yager, in his first inning of the year, stuck out the side in the top of the fifth to finish the game off for Calvary. Yager, a young southpaw, hopes to give the Eagles that extra boost for the rest of the season.

In a small 2A school, it can be hard to get a pool of talented kids together like the bigger districts in the county. Regardless of the scoreboard, the Sharks continue to have fun. The kids know the name on the front of the jersey means more on the back, and that pushes them to play with hustle and the utmost respect for the game.

Jason Ketcherside started on the mound for the Sharks, giving them two innings before moving to the field. Although Ketcherside gave up 14 runs, he kept fighting the entire game and broke through in the top of the fourth. Recording the only hit of the game for the Sharks, Ketcherside hammered a ball over the right fielders head for a stand-up triple.

The Sharks will look for their first win of the year Tuesday, against District 2A-13 counterpart Posnack Hebrew.

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