Trinity Christian Can’t Keep Up With North Broward

Trinity Christian’s Byron Murray had a solo home run and an RBI sacrifice-flyout.

Although every coach loves to win, in the preseason most coaches are happier when they see their team succeed in the situations they have prepared for.

With both North Broward Prep and Trinity Christian set to jump right into very competitive action when the season officially begins next week, Thursday evening’s contest in the HSBN Preseason Challenge left both teams satisfied with their preparation heading into the games that count.

Host North Broward scored four runs in the third and three more in the fourth to pull away with a 7-2 victory in what was the final game of the tournament played at the site.

“I tried to get in some new guys who didn’t start yesterday. The outcome of the game did not matter as much,” Warriors Manager Miguel Cuello said. “We just got a little picky with our pitches.”

Trinity jumped to an early 1-0 advantage in the first inning when Bruce Martin scored on an RBI fielder’s-choice groundout from Byron Murray. Murray also led off the top of the fourth inning with a towering home run to right field.

But the Warriors were unable to string together enough hits to get back into it, with its last scoring chance coming after Angelini Maduro led off the top of the sixth with a standup double to the right corner. Rooney Hermans followed with a single up the middle, and Maduro was waved home.

However, A.J. Fidalic rifled a perfect throw from centerfield to gun down Maduro at home.

North Broward’s Drew Rangel bats while Trinity catcher Manny Bejerano sets for the pitch.

North Broward took control in the bottom of the third, as it loaded the bases when Chase Williams walked, A.J. Fidalic was hit by a pitch and Hernando Sierra singled to centerfield. Edgar Badaraco and Mack Nathanson drew consecutive walks to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.

Drew Rangel added to the lead by pushing Sierra home on a deep sacrifice flyout, and courtesy runner Tommy Smith also scored on a well-executed double-steal play.

Chase Williams turned on a pitch and sliced it into right field to plate two more runners in the fourth, and Mack Nathanson connected for a solo home run to left field in the fifth inning to close the scoring.

“We had quality at bats tonight, but we also have things we still need to work on,” Eagles Manager Brian Campbell said. “I thought our pitchers wasted a lot of pitches. We did not pitch efficient, so we’ll need to work on it and stretch them out a bit further.”

For the Warriors, Manager Miguel Cuello was most pleased by the performance of his starter, Darshan Virginia. Pitching in front of his coach for the first time the big right-hander tossed two scoreless innings and recorded three strikeouts while allowing a hit and walking one.

“He’s very good, and he should be our number one guy now,” Cuello said. “He throws strikes, and he threw hard inside and hard outside, and he threw all of his off-speed pitches well.”

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