Early Trinity run sinks Buccaneers in state semifinal

Berkeley Prep senior Rivers Kurland kept No. 6 nationally-ranked Jacksonville Trinity Christian to just one, first-inning run in Tuesday’s FHSAA Class 2A state semifinal. But the Buccaneers couldn’t solve Conquerors pitcher Aaron Watson and lost 1-0.

By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor

FORT MYERS – A pair of first-inning extra-base hits spoiled a tremendous showing for Berkeley Prep in Tuesday’s FHSAA 2A state semifinal game, as Jacksonville Trinity Christian scored one run and made it stand up in a 1-0 win.

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Berkeley senior ace Rivers Kurland took to the mound for his 61st high school pitching appearance and tossed a one-pitch fly out to start the home-first inning.

Trinity Christian’s Brady Harris celebrates being called safe after his first-inning triple.

But the next batter, Conquerors junior Brady Harris, fought off a couple of pitches before lacing a line drive to right field and sliding into third just under a tag for a triple. Two pitches later, Jordan Martinez sent a double the other way to score the game’s deciding run.

“That’s something we take a lot of pride in – being the aggressors, always,” Harris said. “We come out, and myself especially, when I’m most aggressive that’s when I’m at my best and when our team is at our best.”

Jordan Martinez connects on a double to leftfield, which scored the only run of the game earning the Conquerors a 1-0 victory.

That support would be all Trinity senior Aaron Watson would need, as he mixed his fastball with an impressive sinker and a slider he worked well as his out-pitch, holding the Buccaneers to one hit and striking out seven in a complete-game performance.

Trinity Christian senior Aaron Watson (Virginia signee) pitched a complete-game one-hitter.

After the game Kurland acknowledged a few pitches he wished he had back, but was poised and chose to focus on his teammates and experience over the last four seasons.

“I can sit and dwell over that first inning where they got to me pretty good when I threw an 0-2 slider and the Harris kid crushed it,” Kurland said. “But once I settled in, got a few outs and realized I could hang, I just enjoyed it and soaked it all in.

“The last four years – I’m just so blessed. I love these guys and want to play with them every day.”

Berkeley Prep 1B Jett Walters

The senior, who started on the mound as a freshman in 2022’s state championship game, said the chance to return to the final four a second time was a significant one.

“I got chills walking into this stadium today,” he said. “We lost four years ago, but I still love these moments.”

Buccaneers head coach Richie Warren addressed the final go-round for Kurland and fellow senior Joseph Troupe – both of whom contributed to Berkeley’s state final run four seasons ago.

“I was looking forward to today, but I wasn’t, you know what I mean?” Warren said. “The loss of sleep last night wasn’t because of the opponent we were facing, it was because it was going to be the last time Jojo and Rivers put on this uniform.”

Bucs junior Ben O’Brien runs down the line after sending a groundball through the right side of the infield for his team’s only hit.

Berkeley Prep (25-10) got a runner aboard in the first (Parker Mitzel – hit-by-pitch) and third innings (JD Haughey – reached on an error), before finally getting a hit off Watson when Ben O’Brien singled on a hard ground ball into right.

But the opportunity was quickly negated as Watson fired a throw over to first to pick off O’Brien, before two quick ground outs.

Junior catcher Carson Binder, who caught one runner stealing in the game, tags out Brady Harris for the third out of the fifth inning. After a ground ball deflected off of the glove of Kurland, SS Lucas Farrar got to it and fired a strike home for the out.

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Berkeley SS Lucas Farrar tags out a stealing Brady Harris after Carson Binder’s on-target throw.

The Bucs best opportunity to claw back in the game came in the sixth when a bobble at shortstop allowed Josh Herrmann to reach. He would steal second and third, followed by a walk to Carson Binder. After Riley Zinobar took over on the bases for the catcher Binder and stole second, Mitzel swung over a strike-three pitch in the dirt and took off down the line to first.

Buccaneers junior Josh Herrmann takes flight, diving into second base for the first of his two stolen bases in the sixth.

But Conquerors catcher Braden McKee pounced out from behind the plate and picked up the ball, pump faked to first drawing Herrmann down the line allowing Trinity to work a rundown, which resulted both in the out and Herrmann injuring his left shoulder and being forced from the game.

As Berkeley’s Parker Mitzel takes off toward first after a dropped third strike, Trinity C Braden McKee makes an adjustment and focuses on Josh Herrmann off of third base.

Josh Herrmann caught between third and home as a successful Trinity rundown gets started.

McKee missed eight weeks behind the plate due to an MCL sprain, and had just three pinch hit appearances after the injury in mid-March. His first game back behind the plate was a boost for the Conquerors, keeping the spiked-sinker on strike three in front of him, making the heads-up play to keep the lead, then throwing out a stealing runner in the seventh.

“You have to give a huge shout out to Braden McKee coming off an MCL (injury) and that was his first game catching in almost eight weeks,” Trinity Christian head coach Jonathan Murphy said. “He battled his butt off to get back, went after it in rehab, barely made it back and gutted it out for us. He throws the guy out, and blocked that ball in the dirt, pump fakes and gets that guy in a rundown – those two plays defensively changed the whole momentum for us.”

Trinity Christian C Braden McKee

For his part Kurland battled after the first-inning run. The Florida State-bound lefty walked one, worked around just five more hits, and struck out five. He wrapped up his four-year varsity career with a 27-7 record, 282 innings pitched and 387 strikeouts.

“We obviously had two weeks to prepare, and I guess we needed three because he was pretty stinking good,” Murphy said of Kurland. “We knew it was going to be an elite fastball/changeup and then he can land the breaker whenever he wants. There are very few high school pitchers who can land three pitches for strikes whenever they want, and from the left side … it was such a tough matchup against a guy who has been doing it for four years and has been in the playoffs.”

Kurland lets out his emotions after ending the sixth inning with a strikeout, hoping the fire would translate to the Buccaneers offense trailing by one run and heading into the seventh inning.

The most significant threats against Kurland the rest of the way, were two singles in the second from Chris Reali and JaRod Flowers, and a sixth inning Reali doubled to left. But Kurland ended his final inning and the latter threat with his fifth strikeout and a fiery response as he headed back to the dugout.

“What else can you say about (Kurland)?” Warren said. “… for four years and he’s probably the best pitcher to ever pitch in Hillsborough County, and I’ve seen some pretty good ones.”

Berkeley’s offense battled to the end, putting runners aboard in the seventh (the error and pickoff) including a walk to Jett Walters but couldn’t get the evener across.

⚾ Class 2A State Semifinal ⚾

Jacksonville Trinity Christian 1
Berkeley Prep 0

B 000|000|0 – |0|1|0
T 100|000|0 – |1|8|2
W – Watson (9-0); L – Kurland (7-3)
2B – Martinez, Reali (T); 3B – Harris (T). Records – B (25-10); T (30-4).

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