Lake Worth Christian Falls Short In 3A-14 Battle

Nick Gauntner breaks for home in the third inning.

A wild and wacky night of base-running helped the Westminster Academy Lions defeat the Lake Worth Christian Defenders on Tuesday in a game that was closer than the final score might suggest.

The Lions stole four bases and got caught trying to swipe three more while taking advantage of six unearned runs to come away with a 7-0 win in Lake Worth. The win improved the Lion’s district-leading record to 6-1 (3-0 in 3A-14) while Lake Worth Christian dropped to 2-6 (1-3 district).

Westminster gave the start to staff ace Weston Clemente, but replaced him after an inning of work with Frankie Corridori. For the Defenders, it was young lefty and recent transfer Luke Comerford who got the nod, and the three pitchers combined to keep things relatively uneventful through the first two frames.

Comerford cruised through the first two innings without allowing a hit before running into a bump in the road his third time out. He walked Westminster right fielder Nick Gauntner on five pitches to start the inning and that’s when things started to get interesting on the base paths. When the next batter failed to move him into scoring position by popping into an out, Gauntner took matters into his own hands and stole second. He then advanced to third on a wild pitch.

With two outs, Lions manager Nick James decided to go for broke. With Josh Viveros batting in the two spot, he had Gauntner break for home with the first pitch. The gamble did not pay off as Gauntner was caught in a rundown before being tagged out. Comeford was able to walk off the mound still having not allowed a run or a hit.

“We’re not a team that’s going to bang it all over the yard usually, so when we get runners on we’ve got to manufacture,” said James. “We’ve got to move guys around and we have to look for spots when we can be aggressive on the base paths.” While he was open and confident about his strategy, he was also quick to admit that there were times on this night when that aggressiveness would cost them. “We hurt ourselves a little bit tonight. We missed a few key signs, a few opportunities.”

Lucky for the Lions, more of those opportunities came in the following inning.

After Corridori worked a 1-2-3 bottom half of the third, his Lions got right back to work at the plate. Josh Viveros led off with a double off the left-center field fence. James wasted little time giving him the go-ahead and the speedy Viveros stole third in the next at bat. After a walk by Clemente, Sam Etter bounced back to the mound. Rather than take the force, Comerford threw home just a little too late for catcher David Recio to make a tag on the sliding Viveros. It was the only earned run allowed by Lake Worth Christian pitchers all night.

Ramon Ripoll, who ran for Clemente in the inning, and Etter, both scored on a throwing errors later in the inning to give the Lions a 3-0 lead.

Luke Comerford is a promising young lefty for the Defenders.

Comerford worked out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts, but did not return to the mound. He finished his night having allowed only two hits and three runs while striking out five and walking five. He was also responsible for one of the Defenders two hits on the night, going 1-for-2 with a walk at the plate.

“I felt good,” said the promising eighth grader. “My arm felt good and I was trying to throw strikes and keep it low.”

Lake Worth Christian Manager Dave Salley was happy with what he saw from the youngster.

“Our starting pitching has been key for us this year and it stepped up again tonight,” Salley said. “We’ve got an eighth-grade pitcher on the mound, so you know it’s a great future for the school.”

Trevor Huffman, who had manned first base for the Defenders through the first four innings, switched places with Comerford in the fifth and threw a scoreless but dramatic inning. He walked the first batter he faced and then Jeremy Viveros hit a hard liner past Defenders shortstop Robbie Santiago. It was one of the few balls that would get by Santiago, who had a superb night for Lake Worth Christian in the field.

With runners on first and second, Josh Viveros followed his brother by hitting a grounder to third baseman Bradley Johnson. In the next at-bat, there was yet another bizarre moment on the base paths when Jeremy Viveros was caught in a pickle trying to steal third base and was tagged out.

Santiago shined in the sixth by making the first two outs, one of which was a leaping, twisting snare of a hard hit ball off the bat of Zach Warienus. Then Jake Dudas ripped a grounder his way, giving him an opportunity to make all three put-outs of the inning. He ranged to his right to make a great sliding catch of the grounder, then hopped to his feet and whipped a nice throw to first for a bang-bang play that went in favor of Dudas.

Dudas, who reached safely in all four of his plate appearances, struck again in the next inning to secure the victory for the Lions. With two outs, an error and a hit batsman loaded the bases for Westminster. Dudas then stepped to the plate and hit a 1-1 pitch deep down the right field line, clearing the bases and landing him on third for his first triple of the year. The three RBIs were also his first of the season.

“I’ve been struggling at the plate lately,” Dudas said of his approach. “I was trying to get a good pitch early and just be aggressive. I was at 1-1, and really haven’t gotten an RBI yet this year and really wanted to get a good pitch and drive it. I saw that pitch a little low and out and I took it to right field.”

He scored the Lions’ seventh and final run when Gauntner singled in the next at-bat.

Frankie Corridori pitched four scoreless innings for the win.

Corridori earned his first win for Westminster on the mound. He pitched four innings, allowing no runs and only two hits while striking out five.

Josh Viveros was responsible for two of Westminster’s four stolen bags. He went 1-for-3 on the night and scored a run.

“We’ve got great chemistry. We’ve got great senior leaders,” James said of his club’s hot start. “We’ve got some young guys stepping in and doing the job,” he continued before hinting at what it will take for his kids to win the district. “At the heart, we’re a pitching and defense kind of team.”

The Defenders were hot in the playoffs last season and though he admits it’s much too early for such thinking, Coach Salley knows what it will take to duplicate the feat.

“It’s an exciting year,” Salley said. “We just have to pull together some king of hitting and we might be able to surprise somebody.”

The Defenders will look to rebound from the loss when they head to John I Leonard on Thursday. Westminster goes back to work Thursday night when they host a big district match-up with Trinity Christian.

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