Westside-Trinity Christian Academy hosted the 2019 Ben Watkins Tournament of Champions this past weekend, and a few of the best teams in the state of Florida came to Jacksonville to take on the #1 team in many of the local media’s weekly polls. Trinity hosted perennial state contenders Trinity Catholic of Class 4A, District 3; Stoneman Douglas of Class 9A, District 11; and Venice High School of Class 7A, District 11. The Conquerors won the first of these three but fell in the final two.
Game 1: TCA 14, Trinity Catholic 10
The Conquerors scored six times in the bottom of the first Friday afternoon in a rally highlighted by two-run doubles from Dylan Simmons and Tyson Tucker. C.J. Crawford pulled the same trick an inning later as the Conquerors built a 9-3 lead that would eventually become a 10-4 lead after Kishon Frett doubled home Simmons (2-2, 3 R, 2 2B, 3 HP) in the fourth.
Trinity Catholic rallied for
four runs in the top of the sixth, which started with a lead-off home run from Mason
Scroggie, who earlier led off the fourth inning the same way. O.B.
Weichens (hit by pitch) and Derek Fabian (single) also drove in
runs, and Mac Gibas scored on a wild pitch as the Celtics pulled to
within two at 10-8 by the inning’s end.
The Conquerors, though, got those four runs back in the bottom half when Bryan Muniz singled in a run, Conner Aldrich singled in both Justin Simmons (single) and Muniz, and Fietsam (walk) scored on a balk.
The Celtics got two in the first thanks to Wes Powell’s RBI single and a wild pitch later that allowed Powell to score. Hayden Kimball reached on an error in the second and scored on a balk to make the score 9-3. Trinity Catholic added two runs in the top of the seventh, but Bryce Janney (S: 2) got the final two outs to preserve the win. Kanyan James (W: 3-0, 3.17 ERA) pitched four innings, allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits. He did not walk anyone but struck out four.
Game 2: Stoneman 3, TCA 0
A pitchers’ duel ensued in Friday’s nightcap between Trinity’s Justin Parrish and Stoneman’s Kyle Yeoward. Both pitchers worked very quickly and very effectively, allowing a total of four hits while combining for 13 strikeouts through the first five innings.
In the sixth, however, Stoneman’s first three hitters — Gary Swanson, Hunter Fitzgerald, and Andrew Jenner (double) — started the inning with hits, and all three came around to score on RBI plays from Fitzgerald (single), Coby Mayo (sacrifice fly), and Gabe Cabrera (single).
Parrish (L: 3-1, 1.42) pitched
six innings, allowing three earned runs on eight hits while walking none and
fanning seven. Crawford pitched a perfect seventh in relief.
Yeoward (W: 3-0, 0.33) went the
distance and held the Conquerors to two hits while walking two and striking out
six.
Game 3: Venice 5, TCA 3
On Saturday, the Conquerors hosted Venice in the showcase finale. Trinity rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a run-scoring double from Frett and a two-run single from Tucker, who finished the tournament with 4 RBI overall. Dylan Simmons reached on an error and scored on Frett’s double. Crump walked, and he and Frett both came around on Tucker’s base hit. Venice’s David Morgan, though, shut the door by retiring the next two hitters to end the threat and the game.
Dylan Simmons (L: 1-1) took the loss for Trinity, allowing four earned runs in four innings pitched. He gave up three hits while walking four and striking out two.
Venice scored twice in the first and twice in the fifth, getting RBI’s from Aidan Corn and Reegan Jackowiak each time. Corn had a bases-loaded walk and a single while Jackowiak had a fielder’s choice and a successful squeeze bunt for his 2 RBI. Starter Clayton Callan (W) pitched five scoreless innings, surrendering only two hits while walking two and fanning five. Morgan pitched the final two innings to preserve the win.
Upcoming Games
The Conquerors (9-2) have some well-deserved time off before their next game after playing nine times in the first half of March. Trinity’s next game is at home versus Plantation’s American Heritage (6-1) at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, March 25. An 2:00 p.m. home game with Lakeland’s George Jenkins High School follows a day later before the Conquerors play a big district match-up at Providence on Friday, March 29.
–Raymond Bureau, TCA Conquerors Athletics
PHOTO: Dean Bureau, TCA
