Taravella Falls Short Against American Heritage Delray

In what turned out to be quite the pitchers’ duel, the host American Heritage Delray Stallions defeated the Taravella Trojans 2-0 on the second night of the HSBN Preseason Challenge.

The bats came out early for the Stallions. Center fielder Todd Isaacs led off the bottom of the first with a single. Lucious Fox drew a walk, and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Anfernee Seymore drove in a run on a single, and Chris Canavan drove in the second run on a fielder’s choice to give American Heritage the lead after the first. Those would be the only runs scored on the night as offense took a back seat to pitching and defense.

For the Stallions, pitchers Anthony Delaney, Brendan Brundage and Zach Schneider combined to give up no runs on only three hits while striking out 12. Delaney led the team with six strikeouts, giving up no hits in his three innings of work.

“I had a good command of my pitches tonight,” Delaney said. “That gave me the confidence to throw strikes.”

The pitching and defense was so dominant for American Heritage on Tuesday that more than three Trojans batters came to the plate in an inning only twice. The Stallions didn’t surrender their first baserunner until the third and didn’t give up their first hit until the fourth on a two-out single by Taravella third baseman Lino Bravo.

Brundage allowed a double and a single to lead off the top of the fifth but recovered and quickly struck out the side to get out of the jam. That was the closest the Trojans got to scoring all night and the only time they had a runner in scoring position.

The Stallions were aggressive on the base paths as well. They had three stolen bases and advanced numerous times on balls in the dirt and wild pitches, something Manager Carm Mazza has been telling his team to do.

“I’ve been telling them to be smart and aggressive on the bases,” Mazza said. “Even if they end up getting thrown out, as long as they were smart and aggressive.”

After a rough first inning, the pitching for Taravella settled in not allowing a single run the rest of the game. That, coupled with the excellent play of the defense, kept the game from getting out of hand several times. The defense turned a double play with runners on the corners in the second to get out of a jam and save a run. They faced runners in scoring position again in the fourth and fifth innings, inducing routine pop flies to get out of each inning as well.

Matt Majewski started the contest, giving up the two runs in the first inning while striking out three and walking only one. Justin Walker came in to pitch the final three innings, surrendering no runs on three hits while allowing one walk.

Next up for American Heritage is a matchup against Douglas on Thursday, while Taravella also returns to the field Thursday when it will face Monsignor Pace.

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