Crusaders stay unbeaten, best rival Jesuit 6-2
Captain Cole Bitman fires up the Tampa Catholic dugout after his first-inning double.
By Chuck Frye, Senior Staff Writer
TAMPA – “What do we like? FREE BASES!”
If ever that age-old call-and-response was embodied and impactful in a baseball game, it was Saturday afternoon at Hyer Family Park where top-ranked Jesuit proved to be the generous host and rival Tampa Catholic, ranked third and unbeaten, the gracious benefactor in an emotional 6-2 victory.
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Crusaders starter Talan Miranda battled to within an out of a complete game victory, scattering eight hits and striking out five Jesuit batters.
With Florida State commit Kaden Waechter starting on the mound for Jesuit and South Alabama commit Talan Miranda for the Crusaders – and with stacked bullpens in support of both – dialing into the strike zone wouldn’t be an issue. But for the Tigers, throwing to first base after attempted sacrifice bunts was an Achilles’ heel.
Jesuit righty Kaden Waechter battled through five innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits with five strikeouts and a pair of walks.
Trailing 2-0, Waechter air-mailed the throw on Jayden Mera’s fourth-inning sac bunt over the head of 6-foot-5 first baseman Samir Mohammed to put Mera and Blake Brown (walk) on second and third base respectively. Christian Serralles followed with a two-run single through a drawn-in infield and, two outs later, scored an unearned run on No. 9 batter Brayden Beauchaine’s base hit. A one-run inning at worst turned into a 5-0 ball game and gave TC valuable momentum.
Crusaders junior Jayden Mera drops down a fourth-inning sacrifice bunt …
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… But Jesuit’s throw sails wide and a jubilant Mera ends up at second base.
And it happened again in the sixth. Mera led the frame off with a single, and when Serrelles dropped a bunt down the first base side, reliever Mohammad fired the ball past 6-foot-4 senior Wilson Andersen. Mohammad settled down and retired the next three batters he faced, but Torey Thomas’ ground out plated Mera for a comforting unearned insurance run.
“We played better on defense (Saturday),” Jesuit head coach Miguel Menendez observed after catcher Brady Marshall converted a strike-’em-out, throw-’em-out double play in the first inning and received a perfect throw from third baseman Bryce Besece for a key third-inning out at the plate. “But the two bunts kind of changed everything. It put (TC) in a position with guys in scoring position, they took advantage and put up a crooked number when they had those opportunities and we didn’t do the same thing.”
Jesuit pitcher Kaden Waechter (background) is hopeful, but runner Christian Serralles beat Brady Marshall’s tag to score TC’s third run of the fourth inning and take a 5-0 lead.
The Crusaders (10-0) also saw their two batters that battled for walks (Beauchaine in the third inning and Brown) cross the plate. Miranda, despite scattering eight hits with a wild pitch mixed in over 6 2/3 innings, didn’t issue any free passes, making Jesuit (8-2) earn its runs via a fourth-inning Griffin Boesen solo home run tagged against a strong wind and a Ben Burke RBI single in the fifth.
“Talan was excellent last year when we won this game at our place,” Tampa Catholic head coach Paul Russo Jr. said. “Not only me but the team gets a different feeling when he gets on the bump. You’re a special player when you can lift up an entire team just by stepping on the field.”
Cleanup hitter Griffin Boesen (12) is greeted by teammate Samir Mohammed (25) after hitting a fourth-inning solo homer to get Jesuit on the scoreboard …
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… And is greeted by Cannon Murtagh (2) and the rest of his Tiger teammates.
Menendez also acknowledged Miranda’s impact, saying: “When you throw strikes and don’t walk anybody, those eight hits don’t come back to haunt you.”
Meanwhile, TC’s offense was energized from the jump by captain and Central Florida State College commit Cole Bitman, who ripped doubles in his first two plate appearances, driving in Beauchaine and Ford with two outs in the third to open TC’s scoring.
“Kaden’s a really good pitcher and I knew he was going to attack me with fastballs (in my first at-bat),” Bitman said. “I fouled the first one off, I loved how he was looking, I just stayed in my path and hit it to left-centerfield. The second time, I am looking to go up the middle, (Kaden) came with a slider in and I turned on it. I did my part.”
Flanked by Crusaders assistant coach Paul Russo Sr., senior catcher Cole Bitman is amped up as he flies back to his dugout after being replaced with a courtesy runner.
“When the rest of the team sees one of your best players buy into the (plate approach) and you see success off of it, it kind of loosens up the dugout,” Russo said. “He’s the guy we go to to get things going.”
The Crusaders also played error-free defense starting with what turned out to be a clutch opening-inning highlight. Cannon Murtagh led off with a line drive to left and looked to score when Burke followed the a single to center. It was a good thing that centerfielder Beauchaine didn’t hear his coaches yelling for him to throw to second and concede the run because his perfect peg caught Murtagh at home. Miranda then crushed the threat with two Ks to leave the Tigers scoreless.
“(Beauchaine) made a good throw to the plate and we didn’t get a good jump at second,” Menendez said. “If we scored there, it’s 1-0 (Jesuit) with a man at second with nobody out and it (gives us) momentum, but instead it changes the momentum in (Tampa Catholic’s) direction. We had chances to make some plays and we didn’t handle the little things that gave (TC) these opportunities. They played better than us and won the game.”
Tracking down centerfielder Brayden Beauchaine’s first-inning throw, Tampa Catholic catcher Cole Bitman stretches to tag out Cannon Murtagh and hold Jesuit scoreless.
TC rightfielder Brown also contributed a stellar diving grab near the foul line to open the second inning.
Russo, a Tampa Catholic alum, concluded: “This game is circled on our schedule because, one, it’s a big rivalry and, two, it’s the most intense playoff-like atmosphere you’re going to see all year. I love playing this game every year because this is an emotional game on both sides, coaches and players included, and fans for that matter.”
Hustling down the line after his sacrifice bunt, TC’s Christian Serralles (left) forced an errant throw from Jesuit reliever Samir Mohammed, extending the sixth inning and allowing the Crusaders to score an insurance run.
Both teams return to action Tuesday night as Tampa Catholic travels to Bradenton to take on 7-1 IMG Academy’s Royal squad, while Jesuit looks to rebound behind junior Jaeger Bedford on the bump as it hosts Virginia’s Miller School of Albemarle.
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#3 Tampa Catholic 6
#1 Jesuit 2
T 002|301|0 – |6|6|0
J 000|110|0 – |2|8|2
W – Miranda (4-0); L – Waechter (2-1); S – Serralles (1)
2B – Bitman 2, Popielarchck (T); Murtagh (J); HR – Boesen (J). Records – T (10-0); J (8-2).
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After tagging out courtesy runner Jonathan Hall for a double play that ends the first inning, Jesuit third baseman Bryce Besece exults as he heads to his bench.
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Virginia commit Cannon Murtagh “lobs a grenade” after bombing a leadoff double.
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Crusaders sophomore Fabian Blanco: “STEEEEEEEERIKE,” Tampa Catholic bench: “ONE!”
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Tampa Catholic’s gnome brings good luck on the road.
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Jesuit second baseman Wilson Andersen holds his breath and fires to first to retire Torey Thomas to open the third inning.
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An exuberant Ayden Poplielarcheck yells after the Crusaders DH drove a double down the leftfield line.
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Clutching third baseman Bryce Besece’s throw, Jesuit catcher Brady Marshall waits to apply the tag on Ayden Popielarcheck and prevent a third-inning Tampa Catholic run.
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Tampa Catholic senior Cole Bitman blasts out of the batter’s box after delivering his second double of the game, a two-run, third-inning blast.
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After tracking down a third-inning grounder near the third-base line, Crusaders sophomore Torey Thomas rifles a strong throw across the diamond for the out.
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A construction worker takes a break building Jesuit’s new football press box to take in some of the Tigers’ baseball game against Tampa Catholic.
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Sprinting into foul territory, Tampa Catholic leftfielder D.J. Ford tracks down a shallow fly ball to end the third inning with third baseman Torey Thomas (9) closing in support.
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Tampa Catholic shortstop Jack Smythe puts his all into his throw but Samir Mohammed beats it out for a fourth-inning infield single.
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Jesuit shortstop Jay Kirchner fires the ball to first to get lake Brown out and end the fifth inning.
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Jesuit courtesy runner Tyler Trombley lies on the dirt after seemingly being doubled off second base. The first-base umpire ruled he was obstructed, so instead of the play ending the fifth inning, Trombley was sent to third and then scored on Ben Burke’s single.
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Head coach Paul Russo has led Tampa Catholic to a perfect 10-0 start to its season.
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esuit junior catcher Brady Marshall is possibly the best No. 9 hitter in the state, going 2-for-3 against Tampa Catholic to raise his average to .636 (14-for-22).
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After flagging down an errant seventh-inning pitch, Crusaders catcher Cole Bitman looks to hold Jay Kirchner at second base.
