Baseball Champions

Our Christian high school just won back to back state titles! It's always good to see good kids do well. From the local paper ---


Westminster Christian captures 2A baseball title in style

The Warriors blanked St. Petersburg Shorecrest Prep 6-0 for their Miami Dade-best 10th state title, second on the all-time state list.

BY ANDRE C. FERNANDEZ

PORT ST. LUCIE -- It was a textbook performance.
And a fitting way for Westminster Christian's baseball team to seal a decade's worth of state championships.
A day after Westminster shortstop David Thompson earned a place among the state's all-time best hitters, the Warriors overwhelmed St. Petersburg Shorecrest Prep for a 6-0 victory in the Class 2A state championship game Tuesday at Digital Domain Park.
Westminster Christian (25-6) won its second consecutive state championship and 10th overall, giving it the most of any baseball team in Miami-Dade County history. The total ranks second statewide to Key West's 11.
For the second consecutive season, the Warriors were the only Dade team to win a state baseball championship.
It was also the second time in school history that the Warriors won consecutive titles. Westminster won three in a row from 1996 to '98.
''We came in well aware of all the records the school is chasing, and our boys knew we had a good club to be able to get it done,'' Westminster Christian coach Emil Castellanos said. ''We had to have a phenomenal year to get back to this point and these guys believed they could do it.''
Although its lineup hit effectively, it was pitching that sealed the outcome.
Junior Julian Loret de Mola threw a two-hitter and was backed up by some solid defensive plays in the infield. Although he struck out only two and walked three, Loret de Mola called the performance his best of the season.
''This was the first game of the entire season where I felt in control the entire time,'' Loret de Mola said. ''I hit my spots and I knew my defense would make the big plays. Once we scored, my confidence went way up.''
That happened in the third inning when Westminster plated four runs off Shorecrest starter Marc Brakeman. Joey Stuart and Stephen Fernandez sparked it with back-to-back triples. Loret de Mola then added to the lead with a single that drove in Fernandez.
Thompson did not hit a home run in the game, which would have made him the first player in state history to hit 20 in a season.
But he didn't let missing out on the record bother him, running out onto the pile up of players when Westminster recorded the final out.
After breaking the Dade record previously held by former Monsignor Pace shortstop Adrian Cardenas with two home runs Monday, Thompson finished with 19, sharing the state record with Miramar Florida Bible's Frankie Figueroa (1996), Merritt Island's Tommy Parrott (1999) and Tampa Catholic's Donnie Scott (1978).
Thompson went 2 for 2 with two singles and a walk. On his final at-bat in the sixth inning, he came up with the bases loaded. He swung at the first pitch and hit a grounder to third that led to a fielder's choice.
''It was an experience of a lifetime,'' Thompson said. ''I took a shot for that 20th with one pitch, but it didn't work out. That's all right, though. We were here to win a championship and that's what we aimed for all year above everything else.''

 

Thanks Cutter. A lot of really good kids are on the team and some go to our church so I know them pretty well. Given the baseball talent in Florida, a repeat is really, really hard to do.