Calvary Christian Beats Sagemont In District 14-3 Semifinal

It’ll be a district championship rematch between Calvary Christian and Coral Springs Christian.

Junior right-hander Andrew Liberty went five and two-thirds scoreless innings and Austin Sovay came on for the save as Calvary Christian shut out Sagemont 3-0 in the nightcap of the District 14-3A semifinal at the Westminster Sports Complex on Tuesday night.

The Eagles (17-7) will face the Crusaders (18-7-1) at 7 p.m. Thursday for the title.

Liberty and Sovay combined to allow just four hits and two walks while facing just four batters over the minimum.

“Those guys have really come of age,” said Calvary Christian coach Gregg Mucerino of the pitching performances by Liberty and Sovay.

“Obviously in the postseason, there are no tomorrows,” Mucerino said. “Give Sagemont a lot of credit. They battled, competed and played well. They played a tough game last night (defeated Highlands Christian) and had to come right back and play tonight.”

The Eagles took advantage of a pair of throwing miscues.

In the first inning, Stephen Barnett scored after drawing a walk, taking second base on a passed ball and then scoring on a error in which the ball sailed over the first baseman’s head.

It stayed a 1-0 Calvary Christian until the Eagles added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Andrew Gottfried singled, was pushed to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jonathan Benestat and eventually scored on a throwing error on a play at home plate that went over the catcher’s head. Luke Poirier knocked in Abraham Alejandro on a fielder’s choice.

On the mound, Liberty allowed just one runner to reach third base and departed in the sixth after walking his first two batters of the game.

“My slider was working well,” said Liberty, who improved to 7-1 and has been on the varsity team since eighth grade.

“I threw that for strikes and hit the catcher’s spot — wherever it was. I established my fastball on the outer half and then backed it up with the slider. It definitely helped me out to get a quick lead, but there’s always that scare of giving up one and then it’s tied. But the run definitely calmed me down. They’ve [my fielders] been there for me all year, and I just know that if I throw it over the plate, they will make plays for me.”

One such play that aided Liberty was a 4-6-3 double play completed by Gottfried, Abraham Alejandro and Sovay that ended Sagemont’s first inning.

Sagemont, a relatively young team, had three seniors (David Vazquez, Eddy Milian and Tony Colon) who played their last high school baseball game.

Right fielder Bryant McCarthy led the Lions in hitting with a 2-for-3 performance.

“It’s tough. Throughout the year, you always say give 100 percent regardless of the outcome,” said Sagemont coach Tommy Martinez. “Whatever you leave on the field is what you leave on the field. I think that whenever you think you can or you can’t, you’re right. And, if you believe you can, you will. I really believe that today we came out and left it on the field. They have a really good ball team over there. They’re well-coached.”

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