LAKE WALES, Fla.— The Montreat baseball team traveled to Lake Wales, Fla. for the first of two doubleheaders at the (RV) Warner University Royals this weekend, dropping both games by tight margins, 4-2 and 15-14. After suffering their first defeats of the year, the Cavaliers sit at 7-2 on the season.
 
Ryan Pereda singled and Chase Bruno recorded a walk to start off game one for the Cavaliers, but the visitors were unable to strike first in the top half of the inning despite eventually loading the bases. On the other side, the Royals took advantage of their leadoff man reaching on a hit by pitch. An RBI single scored the opening run of the contest to give the hosts the early 1-0 lead.
 
A hit by pitch in the second and a walk in the third kept the bases busy for Montreat, but double plays in both innings stifled any early Cavalier rallies. Meanwhile, Zach Gilbertsen settled in on the mound and held the Royals scoreless in the bottom half of both innings.
 
Warner (5-3) did break through to double its lead in the fourth inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, a sharply hit ball to Pereda at second base started a double play that scored a run but also limited the damage overall.
 
Montreat threatened in the fifth with the Royals clinging to a 2-0 advantage. For the second time in the contest, the Cavaliers managed to load the bases, this time with only one out. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, a third double play stopped the rally opportunity in its tracks.
 
The hosts doubled their lead in the bottom half of the sixth inning, adding what turned out to be two critical insurance runs. An error and an RBI single, both with one out, extended the Royals' lead out to 4-0 entering the final frame.
 
Despite trailing by four runs, the Cavaliers pushed the Warner bullpen to its limits. Two errors bookended two Montreat singles, allowing two runs to score and pull the Cavaliers within 4-2. Then, with a runner on second base and two down, Daniel Wetmore drove a ball to deep left field that fell into the glove of a Royal just shy of the wall. Warner survived Montreat's late surge, claiming game one by a 4-2 score line.
 
Montreat's 1-2-3 hitters each recorded a base hit in game one. Pereda and Tarik Latchmansingh both went 1-4, while Bruno batted 1-1 with three walks. Gilbertsen pitched 4.1 innings on the afternoon, allowing two runs on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
 
After a 1-2-3 inning for the Cavaliers to start game two, the Royals once again worked their way onto the scoreboard in the bottom half of the first inning. The first three Royals reached base safely in the opening frame thanks to a walk sandwiched between two singles. It was the second single that brought home the game's first run. A few batters later, Warner drove in a second run on a sacrifice fly to center field. Warner's final two runs of the first inning came on a big two-out, two-RBI double to deep left field.
 
Trailing 4-0, the Cavaliers' first baserunner came via a Michael Bell walk. Bell stole second base to get into scoring position with nobody out, but Montreat couldn't break through as the next three hitters were retired in order.
 
Montreat registered its first hit and first run of the ball game in the top half of the fourth inning. After Bruno started off the frame with a first-pitch single to center field, the Cavaliers' three-hole hitter, Latchmansingh, drove a shot into deep center that short-hopped the wall. Bruno sprinted around the bases on the liner, scoring all the way from first without a throw.
 
The Cavaliers' fourth-inning rally didn't end there. CJ Mack recorded his first RBI of the season on a single to center field that scored Latchmansingh. Bell tacked on a third Cavalier run with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Wetmore and drawing Montreat within 4-3 midway through the game.
 
Warner came up with a big answer to Montreat's three-run fourth inning by batting around the order without recording an out. The first nine Royals hitters reached base safely via a dropped-third strike, a hit by pitch, an error, two hits and four walks. The free bases aided Warner in scoring six runs to leap ahead by a 10-3 score through four innings.
 
Despite the sizable deficit, the Cavaliers showed no signs of quitting. In the top half of the sixth inning, a Wetmore single, Bell double and pinch-hit Luis Ramos walk filled the bags. OJ Borroto stepped into the box to pinch hit, and he delivered a productive out by lining a fly ball into center field for the sacrifice fly.
 
Two batters later, Bruno delivered on a two-RBI bloop single that pulled Montreat within 10-6. Again, two hitters later, it was Padilla who served an 0-2 pitch through the left side of the infield to drive in another run. Wetmore and Mack then followed with back-to-back bases-loaded walks to make it just a one-run game. Bell, the twelfth Cavalier to bat in the inning, came up clutch with a two-run bloop single into shallow center that vaulted Montreat on top of Warner, 11-10. The eight-run sixth inning pushed the Cavaliers within six outs of a remarkable come-from-behind victory.
 
After coming up empty in the bottom half of the sixth inning, the Royals were down to their final strike in the seventh. On an 0-2 pitch with two outs, Warner pulled a deep shot down the right field line for a game-tying solo blast. In a game full of twists and turns, the Cavaliers and Royals were headed for extra innings.
 
Montreat put together its third big offensive inning of the game thanks to the heart of the Cavaliers' order. Latchmansingh singled to start off the inning, and Wetmore walked following a Padilla fielder's choice. Then, after fouling off several pitches to stay alive in a 2-2 count, Mack crushed a three-run jack to right field, seizing a 14-11 lead in the eighth.
 
Not to be outdone, the Royals followed up the Cavaliers three-run blast with a three-run tally of their own. A leadoff walk and single placed two runners on base for Warner, and two batters later, the Royals served up their own three-run shot to tie the ball game at 14. Catcher Jeff Cardazzone threw out a would-be base stealer to end the eighth inning, pushing the contest deeper into the night.
 
The Cavaliers couldn't cash in on a leadoff double by Bruno in the ninth inning, and the Royals took advantage. A one-out single to right, followed by a four-pitch walk, moved the winning run into scoring position. Warner came through one last time on an RBI single to left field, scoring in the bottom of the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to outlast the Cavaliers, 15-14.
 
Four Cavs racked up multi-hit performances in game two. Mack came in clutch at the plate, batting 2-4 with a home run and five RBIs. Meanwhile, Bruno racked up three hits with two RBIs and two runs scored. Latchmansingh (2-4, RBI) and Bell (2-3, 3 RBIs) also tallied multiple hits in the effort.
 
The Montreat baseball team takes on (RV) Warner University for two more contests on Saturday in Lake Wales, Fla. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.