Westminster Grabs Share Of District 3A-14 Lead With Extra-Inning Win Over Sagemont

Westminster Academy grabbed a share of the District 3A-14 lead Thursday afternoon when it defeated Sagemont 7-2 at Tequesta Trace Park in Weston. The Lions moved their district mark to 3-2, tying them with Calvary Christian for the lead.

The district has provided many memorable games already this season, and Thursday’s was yet another thriller. The game featured a two-run Sagemont comemake, a five-run Westminster eighth inning and a coach ejection. In other words, a typical day in District 3A-14.

Westminster scored two runs in the first inning, keyed by singles from Daniel D’onofrio and Joey Knight. Sagemont starter Tony Colon escaped further damage in the inning, stranding Knight at third. The runs in the first would be all that Colon gave up in his four and two-thirds innings of work.

When he left the game, Sagemont was trailing 2-0 thanks to a strong performance from Westminster starter Weston Clemente. The Lions’ sophomore allowed only one hit, a single by Brian McCarthy, through the first five innings. In the sixth, Sagemont mounted their game-tying comeback.

It looked as though the inning would go as the other five for Clemente, as he retired the first two batters. Chris Iacono then started the rally with a base hit. David Vazquez reached on an infield error, and that’s when the fireworks began.

After throwing two curve balls that Sagemont clean-up hitter Ashton Martinez swung and missed at, Clemente came in with a fastball, and Martinez hit a shot right over the third base bag for a bases-clearing double. Westminster head coach Nick James immediately came out to argue that the ball was foul, and by the end of the argument, James had been ejected.

When play resumed, Eddie Milian walked, and McCarthy hit what seemingly could have won the game for Sagemont, a line shot headed towards the right-field line. Westminster first baseman Thomas Messer, however, saved the afternoon for his team with a leaping grab of the liner.

With momentum still on it’s side, Sagemont got Westminster to go one-two-three in the top of the seventh and then mounted what appeared to be a game-winning rally. The Lions’ Junior Bahter reached on a bunt single, and after Edison Rodriguez singled, James McDonnell executed a perfect slash base hit to right. Bahder was held at third on the play after getting a bad break off of second base.

With the bases loaded and nobody out, the Lions looked poised to take the district lead, but D’onofrio, who had relieved Clemente, had other ideas. The junior got Sean Iacono to ground into a 3-2 fielder’s choice for the first out. A failed squeeze attempt resulted in the second out of the inning, and when D’Onofrio induced a fly ball to center off the bat of Chris Iacono, the Lions escaped the jam with no runs scored.

With momentum again shifted, Westminster finally broke open the game in the eighth. The Lions used five hits, including two-run singles by Daniel Burns and Sam Etter, to take a 7-2 lead. Sagemont went quietly in its half of the inning, and Westminster ended the game in first place.

With many positives on the day, James was most pleased with his sophomore starting pitcher.

“I thought he (Clemente) pitched great,” said James. “The last three times he’s taken the bump for us, he’s carried the load. Even though he’s a young guy, he understands the expectations when he gets a start in a big district game, that he needs to come out and pound the zone, and for the last three or four weeks, that’s what he’s done. He gets better and better every time out.”

For Sagemont, the roller-coaster game was the type they have become accustomed to this season. The Lions are also young, but head coach Tommy Martinez understands that maturity is going to be needed if the team is going to advance out of the district playoffs.

“We’ve worked on squeeze plays, we’ve worked on our defense, we’ve worked on situational hitting,” said Martinez. “We did a good job of coming back and battling today, but at the same time, when we’ve got the momentum, and when we have bases loaded and nobody out, we have to execute and get it done.”

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