Silva Tosses Two-Hit Shutout To Propel Stallions To 1-0 Victory Over Calvary

Dylan Silva had nine strikeouts on 100 pitches in the shutout.

Dylan Silva was not comfortable with the way his curve ball was coming out on Thursday. It lacked its usual bite and was not locating how it normally does.

But luckily his fastball was.

The senior left-hander threw a complete-game, two-hit shutout to lead host American Heritage-Delray to a 1-0 victory over Calvary Christian in a Class 3A regional quarterfinal played at Picow Family Stadium in Delray Beach. It was the third consecutive season Heritage has ended Calvary’s season in the regional quarterfinals.

Needless to say, Silva’s fastball played a huge part in his success.

“My off-speed was only OK today, but I got enough out of my fastball,” Silva admitted following the Stallions’ victory. “I was actually feeling my strongest in the seventh, and that was when I had my best stuff.”

With his coaches debating whether to even leave him on the mound for the final frame, the hulky lefty finished the Eagles off in order, including two swinging strikeouts. He recorded nine strikeouts in all and issued just three walks on 100 total pitches as he improved to 5-2 on the season.

But with Silva not at his usual dominant form, he could not help but give credit to the sound defensive effort the Stallions (19-7) put forth behind him.

“We didn’t have any errors. When we hit, we can win anything, but if we don’t make errors, we can still get it done,” said Silva, who is signed to play for Florida State next season.

The Eagles (17-9) had plenty of opportunities by putting the ball in play, but the Stallions outfielders covered all the ground they needed to and the infield gobbled up every groundball it saw.

“It is rewarding, because this region is the toughest in the state,” Heritage coach Carm Mazza said. “We knew this would be a tough game, and it was. Calvary battled tonight, and they are a good team, and it feels good to get the win.”

The Stallions Anfernee Seymour looks off an inside pitch before drawing a walk and scoring the game’s only run.

With the Stallions struggling to mount any offense against Calvary starter Austin Sovay as well, they managed to push a run across in the first inning and then simply had to make that hold up the rest of the way.

Anfernee Seymour drew a leadoff walk to open the bottom of the first, then advanced into scoring position on a fielder’s choice groundout from Trevor Maloney and came in to score on an RBI single off the bat of Corey Cohen.

“It was a pitching duel and we just couldn’t put an inning together against their guy,” Eagles coach Gregg Mucerino said. “They are a great team and we wish them well. We are not disappointed at all; we just wish we could have put one inning on him. But my hat’s off to him; that’s why he is going to FSU.”

The victory sets up an unprecedented fifth match up this season between the Stallions and district rival Summit Christian, after the Saints also advanced following an extra-inning victory over Coral Springs Christian on Wednesday.

“We know each freckle on each other’s hand at this point,” Mazza said, while also admitting that the season series has begun to feel like an installment in the Rocky films. “This is Round Five of the boxing match, and this one here is for all the marbles. It’s five sleepless nights until then, too.”

Leave a comment using your facebook account!