Defenders To Continue Success Behind Marrs & Santiago

Senior Tyler Smith takes grounders during infield practice.

Jordan Marrs focused on becoming a better player over the summer. And he expects Lake Worth Christian to be the beneficiary.

Any time the best player on your team gets even better, no one will complain.

“I got a whole bunch stronger since last season,” said Marrs, who led the Defenders with a .357 average and 18 RBIs. “I played a lot of baseball over the summer. I also worked out with coach every single day at the baseball field or in the gym, except for two weeks when I was out of town.”

Marrs, a 6-foot-2, 162-pound right-hander, also led the team with four wins a season ago. He struck out 32 and walked 32 in 35 innings last year. The junior will play third base when not on the mound.

“Coach (Dave) Salley pushed me and I found motivation to push myself knowing that we had a better team and we had a chance at going a lot further,” said Marrs, who has been on the varsity since he was a freshman.

The Defenders went 7-17 last year but won their first district title since 2009 when they got hot during the playoffs. However, they lost 13-0 in the regional quarterfinals, with Marrs taking the loss.

The road to another title got a bit tougher as they moved up to Class 3A and are in a seven-team district instead of only three teams last year.

“We’re a lot stronger than last year,” said Marrs, who believes the team is motivated by last year’s late-season success. “We’ve got a lot of players, and we’ve grown. We were a lot younger last year, now we have a lot more upperclassmen, and we have bunch of new solid players.”

Several of the new players are from Summit Christian, which recently closed. One of them is Robbie Santiago, a middle infielder who is battling Crohn’s disease.

“We’ve known each since we were nine,” said Marrs. “His dad always coached me in travel. We kind of separated when we were about 13 or 14 and then we ended up at the same high school. It’s pretty cool, and he’s a good baseball player.”

Santiago, a junior, is expected to start at second base and bat near the top of the lineup.

“It feels like the same thing from five years ago,” said Santiago. “I always had his back as a middle infielder when he was the pitcher. It’s the same now. We’re like brothers.”

Santiago takes pills daily and is on a strict diet to help manage his illness, which was diagnosed about five years ago. It hasn’t obscured his passion for the game.

“It’s an obstacle but I still want to play college baseball,” said Santiago.

Jordan Marrs gets in a little throwing from the mound during a recent practice.

Salley has been impressed with Santiago, even though he misses practices because of his illness.

“Robbie gives his all,” said Salley. “When he’s here, he’s a leader of the team. He pushes the people around him as well as himself. So I don’t have to manage him, I just have to have an understanding of his situation and where he’s at. He’s dedicated to the team. It’s him learning to live with it. Baseball-wise, he puts the work in. He’s a hard worker and he has the skill set to advance in his baseball career.”

Marrs and Salley believe the team has to rely on pitching and defense to succeed this season.

“Hitting will be our focus because that is our weak spot,” said Salley. “Pitching and defense will keep us in there with any team. We’ll play a little small ball, put some runs on the boards and we can be in there with any team.”

Salley expects sophomore Luke Comerford, a left-hander who came over from Summit Christian, and returnee Trevor Huffman, a right-hander who pitched 41 innings last season, to eat up a lot of innings.

“We’re definitely working a lot on hitting and hitting and hitting,” said Marrs. “We’ve been doing a lot of that. If we can hit, we’ll definitely win.”

No matter how the Defenders hit, they are counting on Marrs on the mound.

“I expect him to go deep into the games,” said Salley. “He’ll start one game a week. I expect him to collect the wins, and if not, putting us in position to get the win in the later innings with our hitting.”

Marrs prefers pitching to third base but will do anything to help the team succeed.

“That’s where I have control of the game and can command it,” said Marrs, who will rely on his mid-80s fastball and change-up. “My expectations are to to pitch better than I ever have and possibly hit the high 80s, maybe 90. For the team, I want us to compete in every game and have a winning record.”

With leaders like Marrs and Santiago, anything is possible.

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