LAKE WALES, Fla.— After playing a pair of contests on Friday against the Warner University Royals, the Montreat baseball team returned to action in Florida, taking on the Royals for another doubleheader on Saturday. The Cavaliers captured a 7-2 victory in game one prior to falling 9-6 in game two as Montreat moved to 8-3 on the season.
As the home team did in each of the games on Friday, Warner struck first in contest number one, this time with a single run in the bottom of the first frame.
Daniel Willie, who started on the mound for the Cavs, settled in- limiting his damage by striking out seven consecutive Warner batters from the first through the third innings. Willie retired nine straight hitters and only allowed one baserunner over a stretch spanning from the second through the sixth frames, striking out an incredible 13 WU batters overall to keep the home team at bay.
Once Willie settled in, so did the Cavalier offense. Montreat answered with a trio of runs in the fifth to take a two-run advantage in the seven-inning competition.
Chase Bruno drove in
Ryan Pereda after a Pereda double. Then, with Bruno on first,
Tarik Latchmansingh blasted his fifth home run of the year to complete the frame.
The Cavaliers added four insurance runs in the seventh to seal their win.
Rafael Padilla doubled to plate Bruno and
Will Cheek scored on a passed ball.
CJ Mack powered a two-run shot over the fence to put the visitors up 7-1 with three outs to go.
Though Warner threatened with two more hits, Willie shut the door to complete Montreat's five-run triumph. The Ooltewah, Tenn. native recorded his second win of the young season, throwing a complete game, while surrendering only four hits and two runs. Latchmansingh (2-4), Padilla (2-3) and
Jeff Cardazzone (2-3) all registered multi-hit contests as seven different Cavaliers tallied base knocks.
In game two, the Royals pounced with a solo home run in the bottom half of the first, but the Cavaliers would respond immediately. The next frame featured a trio of runs by Montreat, who capitalized on Warner miscues and timely hits.
Michael Bell and
Luis Ramos both scored on passed balls, while Nicholas Robinson singled in
Daniel Wetmore in the inning as the Cavs concluded the top of the second up 3-1.
The lead would be short lived as the first nine Royals to come to the plate in the bottom of the inning would reach base safely. Five hits and two Montreat mistakes would score eight runs for the home team, who held a 9-3 advantage over the Cavaliers.
Cheek scored Bruno with a sac fly and
Ben Brown collected a two-RBI single to left that plated Mack and
OJ Borroto in the fifth, but the comeback attempt was stunted, and the Cavs dropped game two by three. Borroto (2-3) was the only Cavalier with multiple hits in the competition, but eight Montreat batters tallied hits and six scored runs in the defeat.
Baseball continues its road trip in Florida with a pair of contests at Ave Maria University on Monday. First pitch of game one versus the Gyrenes is set for 11:00 a.m.
