Lancers answer coach's challenge, win eighth-straight

Lancers answer coach’s challenge, win eighth-straight

Cambridge Christian freshman Nathan Hazard watches his first varsity home run sail out toward right field in the first inning. Hazard was 2-for-3, adding an RBI single in the second inning and helping the Lancers win for the eighth-straight time.

By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor

TAMPA – In late-March Cambridge Christian kicked the ball all over the field, dropping a decision to Carrollwood Day allowing six unearned runs on nine errors.

The Lancers came to practice the next day and were put through a 21-out simulation, and for every mistake – a lap, or sit-ups, or push-ups – something, anything from the coaching staff to try and make an impact.

The routine wasn’t necessarily punishment, but it was meant to make an impact. It was meant to show the expectations head coach John DiBenedetto and his staff had for the team, youthful or not.

Check out our full photo gallery from this game – click here.

The practice also came with a challenge for the then middling Lancers players with eight regular season games to play – finish strong, hold each other accountable, and aim for 17 wins.

“We were 9-8 and had a nine-error game against CDS and as a coaching staff we got together and said, ‘hey, new season, let’s just wash it,’ and we set a new goal to win 17 games,” DiBenedetto said. “It has been incredible the last three weeks to watch these young guys transform themselves and win eight in a row. It’s been really incredible.

“That Wednesday after the CDS game we did 21 outs, as simple as it sounds, but any failed backup, any groundball missed, any overthrow, we dropped our gloves and we ran. We started to hold them accountable to what we believed they were capable of defensively, and ever since that point – unbelievable. Absolutely, unbelievable.”

Cambridge Christian 2B Trigg Listerman

The buy-in was immediate.

“I liked it,” freshman second baseman Trigg Listerman said. “Because it showed us that our coaches really believe in us. They believe that we can win, so they pushed us to the hardest point that we could go.”

That refocused defense has been on full display as the Lancers claimed the Sunshine State Athletic Conference State Title two weeks ago, and again as CCS stunned Tampa Catholic to start this week. The winning continued with a 13-0 win at Keswick on Thursday, and was again on full display Friday afternoon as the Lancers topped district opponent Seffner Christian 3-1 to close out the regular season.

Cambridge Christian junior Zachary Uhl earned the win, allowing one run over five innings.

On Friday, Seffner Christian came out swinging against Lancers junior Zachary Uhl, as Brayden Nanns impressive offensive season continued with a one-out double lined to centerfield, and immediately cashed in when Kris Colondres (both hitting over .420 on the season) traded places with him with an RBI double to left.

Crusaders junior Kris Colondres doubled in the game’s first run.

Seffner Christian senior Brayden Nanns hit a one-out double to center in the first inning and was quickly driven in for his team’s only run. Nanns is hitting .441 on the season and added a single later in Friday’s game.

Senior Andrew Montero slapped a groundball single through the right side two pitches later and the Crusaders seemed poised for a big inning, but a line drive snagged by Lancers third baseman Braiden Price went for a double-play as he stepped on the bag to avoid further damage.

Cambridge Christian (17-8) freshman Nathan Hazard immediately erased the deficit, belting his first varsity home run over the fence in right to lead off the home-first.

“It was really important because it allowed us to bounce back into the game like it was brand new,” Hazard said. “At the beginning of season, going down 1-0 we might have shut down, but now with the work we’ve been putting in at practice, we’re focused the whole game through.”

Lancers head coach John DiBenedetto congratulates Nathan Hazard after his solo home run in the first inning.

A tied ballgame energized Uhl and the righty worked through four more scoreless innings, allowing just one more single to Nanns, striking out three – including the first two he would face in the second – and earned the win.

“I made some mistakes early leaving some balls up and (Seffner Christian) is a good quality team, so I had to change my objective and get the balls down in the zone more,” Uhl said. “Once I did that, with a great defense behind me that I’m very thankful for, that was really all that I needed to adjust.”

Ian Jansen reached on an error to start the second inning, then gets back into first under the tag of Crusader 1B Kaleb Williams.

The Lancers took control in the second making a leadoff error hurt before singles from Price and Listerman loaded the bases and setup an RBI groundout from one of the day’s two celebrated seniors Blake Walker, and a run-scoring single by Hazard to put the game out of reach.

CCS senior Blake Walker mashes a ball into the dirt for an RBI groundout to put the Lancers ahead in the second inning.

Lancers shortstop Ian Jansen had a part in all three outs in the third inning, Listerman was a wall at second, and rightfielder Luca Gonzalez made a highlight-reel catch to end the top of the fifth.

Lancers RF Luca Gonzalez runs down a ball to end the top of the fifth inning.

Jansen, another of the Lancers regular starting freshmen, said that post-loss practice on March 26th was the perfect spark at the perfect time.

“I was actually excited for it, because I felt like it was what we needed,” Jansen said. “We are a young team, but we don’t want to play like a young team, so we needed to have that college-level-style push, that challenge to make ourselves better.”

Seffner Christian SP Alejandro Hamana

Seffner Christian (11-10) senior starting pitcher Alejandro Hamana worked out of some two-out trouble in the third, getting an inning-ending groundout after Jansen doubled and Price walked. He would be charged with the loss, allowing one earned run on five hits and had one strikeout. Junior Camden McBane would hold the Lancers scoreless over the final three innings, giving up only one hit, but did have four walks.

SCA reliever Camden McBane

Price pitched one inning for Cambridge, hitting one batter and seeing the runner reach third base, but avoided any damage to the scoreboard, and Blake Hafner worked around a two-out walk to pick up the save in one inning of work.

Seffner Christian will host Zephyrhills Christian on Monday in the Class 1A-District 9 tournament; while the Lancers have an opening round bye.

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#15 Cambridge Christian 3
Seffner Christian 1

S 100|000|0 – |1|4|1
C 120|000|0 – |2|6|1
W – Uhl (4-1); L – Hamana (3-3); S – Hafner (2)
2B – Bra. Nanns, Colondres (S); Quintero, Jansen (C); HR – Hazard (C). Records – S (11-10); C (17-8).

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