Mustangs jump out early, strand Lancers on the bases

Spotted a four-run lead by his offense, Northside Christian senior Donovan Fox held Cambridge Christian to two runs leading the way to a Class 1A-Region 3 quarterfinal win.

By Mike Camunas, Creative Director

TOWN ‘N’ COUNTRY — Like most places in Tampa, Cambridge Christian just couldn’t clear out the traffic.

The Lancers, riding consecutive 19-win seasons, racked up nearly as many runners left on base (12), all of which just didn’t see a timely hit, as they fell 5-2 to St. Petersburg Northside Christian in the Class 1A-Region 3 quarterfinals at Skyway Park on Saturday evening.

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Tried as they might, Cambridge Christian (19-8-1) just couldn’t drive home a runner to catch the Mustangs, which only had five hits to the Lancers 10.

“We just couldn’t clear that traffic,” fourth-year Lancers head coach John DiBenedetto said. “It cost us. We pieced up a couple (of rallies), especially late in the game where I will tell you, defensively, in the outfield, they were fantastic.

“But overall, a great year. 19 wins, district champions. We’re close,” DiBenedetto added.

Cambridge Christian junior Ethan Santos, running for catcher Gavin Lopez, scores a run in the second inning off of Blake Hafner’s line drive double to centerfield.

The Lancers were close a couple of times, but, as DiBenedetto mentioned, the Mustangs (14-14) were defensively stout. Specifically, as Cambridge was trying to comeback on a quick 4-0 deficit from the first inning, speedster Robert Moore was thrown out at home in the second and trying to advance to third in the sixth — both rally killers with the Lancers looking to be aggressive on the base paths.

Click here for more photos from this game.

“We probably shouldn’t have tried to take third in the sixth,” DiBenedetto admitted. “And even then, the guys never quit, they never gave up and hit the ball well. Probably too well, because some of them were right to their players, especially in the outfield.”

Northside Christian SS Danilo Soto tosses a ball to 2B Preston Hamelynck for a force out to end the third inning.

Cambridge just couldn’t get out of the 4-0 hole it found itself in from basically the first pitch of the first inning. DiBenedetto said starting Trigg Listerman (6-3, 3.20 ERA) would have always been the plan because “he’s our guy,” but the sophomore righty struggled, giving up four runs on five hits over the three innings he pitched.

Cambridge Christian sophomore Trigg Listerman worked three innings, allowed five runs on just four hits and struck out three.

He would eventually give way to fellow sophomore lefty Nathan Hazard (4-1, 1.85 ERA), who would end up pitching a gem in relief — 4 innings, 1 hit, 5 K.

“Trigg’s been our guy,” DiBenedetto said. “He has been for the last three years, so in a spot like this, he gets the ball. Nate’s been fantastic, and Nate, we call them 1A and 1B. The plan was to throw both of them tonight. And to Trigg’s credit, he settled back into that game and only gave up one more run over the next two (innings). Nate was fantastic tonight. Fastball-changeup combinations were fantastic.

“Just too many runs to overcome — too much traffic not brought home.”

Northside Christian righty Donovan Fox scattered a pair of runs on nine hits over five innings, earning his fourth win of the season while striking out five.

On the other side of the mound, Northside’s Donovan Fox did give up nine hits, but also struck out five over five innings, while also giving up the two runs and two walks.

In the first inning, the Mustangs drove in runs behind Ashton Cox, Jameson Moan and Brady Jones. In the third, Gabe Currier scored on a wild pitch.

Mustangs lefty Ashton Cox worked two scoreless innings of relief to earn the save.

For the Lancers, they jumped right back in the first, with Hazard driving home Listerman on a single, while in the third, Blake Hafner double home Ethan Santos — before Moore was tagged trying to slide into home plate.

“This is a tough loss,” DiBenedetto said, “and it was. It was one of those where you can kind of go back and it could have, should have, would have. We get a hit, right? Like at the end of the day, they fought hard. I have no regrets in this. Like, they battled. They battled hard. We could have easily gave up there in the first, given up before the spot. Sure. But it was gather ourselves back, get back into it, compete a little bit.”

Cambridge Christian sophomore Nathan Hazzard held the Mustangs to just one hit, while striking out five in four relief innings.

DiBenedetto, now 65-42-1 in turning this Cambridge program into a competitive, perennial winner, knows the Lancers’ future is a bright one. The team loses just four seniors — albeit captains Will Snider, Alex Quintero and Zachary Uhl and Jayden Jardine (who drove in 20 RBI on 23 hits with two homers) — and returns a massive core of players, most of whom are only sophomores.

Lancers backstop Gavin Lopez frames a pitch for the umpire.

Like Ian Jansen (.385, 26 RBI, 7 homers) and Blake Hafner (.382, 18 RBI, 34 hits) and Listerman (.394, 13 RBI, 26 hits) and Hazard (.333, 18 RBI, homer).

“They’re all back,” DiBenedetto concluded. “We return almost all of our arms. We lose the two senior arms, but, again, well, I was looking at it just now, we return seven starters to the lineup … so, we’ll get better.

“But they’re great,” he added. “I love them all. They’ve been here from Day One of this rebuilding, working in unison, and to see back-to-back 19-win seasons, they’re leaving it better than they found it, which is always the beautiful thing.

“They’ve worked really, really hard and they’ve set us up for a really bright future.”

Northside Christian advances to the best-of-three region semifinal series beginning next Friday, where the Mustangs will take on No. 1 seed Fort Myers Canterbury.