JACKSONVILLE, Fla.— The Montreat baseball team swept the Trinity Baptist College Eagles in a non-conference doubleheader Tuesday afternoon in Jacksonville, Fla., defeating the hosts by 5-0 and 15-9 scorelines. With the wins, the Cavaliers improved to 14-13 overall, eclipsing the .500 mark for the first time this season.
While Montreat left the bases loaded in the top of the first, the visitors didn't have to wait long to score their first run in game one.
Norman Kelly drew a leadoff walk in the second inning, and he scored two batters later on
Isaac Castro's RBI double to left center.
Tyler Best worked around a few hits during the middle innings, holding the Eagles off the scoreboard to maintain the 1-0 Montreat lead. In the top of the fifth, his offense created some breathing room thanks in large part to positive plate appearances from three consecutive pinch hitters.
Dylan Sayler and Blake Metts earned free passes via pinch-hit walks, and
Stephen Karis drove them both home on a pinch-hit double to deep left center. Castro then launched a 2-run homer to left moments later, expanding the Cavalier edge out to 5-0 through five frames.
With five runs on the board, the Montreat pitching staff handled the rest. Best threw five strong innings on the mound, surrendering zero runs on five hits while striking out three batters to snag his second win in as many weeks.
Harold Aguilera and
Rawley Stinson each contributed a scoreless inning in relief as the Cavs took the opener via shutout, 5-0.
The Cavaliers scored five runs on 11 hits in game one, with seven of those knocks coming from the top three hitters in the batting order.
Jeff Cardazzone (3-4) led the way with three hits, while
AJ Barrios (2-3),
Jaider Morelos (2-4) and Castro (2-4) all tallied multiple hits. Castro (3 RBIs) and Karis (2 RBIs) each drove in runs as well.
Like game one, the Cavs opened the scoring by plating a single run in the second inning. This time, Montreat took advantage of a fielding error and a throwing error to move in front of TBC, 1-0.
Trinity Baptist (5-14) came back with a vengeance in the bottom of the third, utilizing clutch 2-out hitting to suddenly swing the game in its favor. The Eagles scored six 2-out runs in the frame as the hosts quickly surged ahead of the Cavaliers, 6-1.
Tarik Latchmansingh gave Montreat a spark in the top of the fourth with his 2-run blast to left center, but Trinity Baptist got one of those runs back in the bottom of the frame to lead 7-3.
The longball powered the majority of a 6-run fifth for the Cavaliers. A throwing error plated one Montreat runner, but
Elijah Baptist's 2-run shot and Latchmansingh's 3-run bomb, his second homer in as many innings, did the heavy lifting as the Cavs batted around and moved back in front of TBC, 9-7.
While TBC scored a single run in the fifth and sixth to level the score at nine, Montreat proved unfazed. The Cavaliers notched their second 6-run inning of the contest in the seventh as Castro and Latchmansingh delivered knockout blows to take and expand the visitor lead. In the end,
Nate Kiser's scoreless bottom of the seventh coupled with Latchmansingh's two homers and seven RBIs helped seal the 15-9 triumph, a victory that pushed the Cavs above .500 for the first time in 2023.
The Montreat baseball team resumes Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play on Friday with a home matchup against the Truett McConnell University Bears. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. in Montreat, N.C.
