WEST PALM BEACH – A relatively close game turned into a rout in last night’s (May 11) Class 3A – Region 3 quarterfinal matchup between second-seeded Cardinal Newman and seventh-seeded Benjamin.
Big time plays on defense and offense influenced the 11-4 final score in favor of Cardinal Newman (19-5).
Here is how it went down:
•In the top of the third inning, Cardinal Newman’s defense turned in a triple play that was made primarily by senior Steven Hammond
•Later in the game, Hammond had a hand in successfully converting a double play on defense. He also caught the game’s last out.
•Up 7-4 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Cardinal Newman went on a scoring surge with four runs on three hits. One of the four runs came off an RBI single by Drake Flowers, which resulted in a run by Griffin Hugus.
Our Player of the Game was Cardinal Newman senior Andy Sabugo. He went 2-for-3 with two RBI’s, one run, and one walk.
“It was an absolute great game,” the Charleston Southern signee said. “Great defensive plays, great hitting, great pitching.”
Hammond provided his take on how the triple play went in the third inning.
“When the ball was hit to me on that triple play, I just caught it,” the Cardinal Newman senior second baseman said. “It was just reflexes really. I just threw it to second. Vance [Sheahan] threw it to first. It’s just easy like that. I just played defense, made all my plays, and did my job.”
Cardinal Newman baseball head coach JR Edwards recapped how the game went from start to finish.
“It was a really good team win,” Edwards said. “A lot of up and down, back and forth. Credit to Benjamin and their starting pitcher Freddy [Beruvides]…Just great to see them (Cardinal Newman players) respond the way they did after we went down 4-3 to retake the lead and throw up some zeroes after that. They did a great job.”
Edwards on how the sixth inning went down for Newman:
“We took advantage of some mistakes their pitcher made and put ourselves in position to score some runs,” Edwards said.
Now with this game in the rearview mirror, Cardinal Newman will look to capitalize on another playoff game this weekend at home.
The Crusaders will host sixth-seeded Melbourne Central Catholic (21-4-1) in the 3A – Region 3 semifinal on Saturday night (May 14) at 7 p.m.
“Look forward to another great baseball game at Newman”, Edwards said. “We’re going to focus on catching the baseball, throwing the baseball, and having a good approach at the plate. We’ll go from there.”
CLASS 3A – REGION 3 QUARTERFINAL: OTHER RESULTS
•No. 6 seed Melbourne Central Catholic 11, No. 3 seed St. John Paul II 7
St. John Paul II ends its season with a 13-12 record
•No. 5 seed King’s Academy 4, No. 4 seed Master’s Academy 0
King’s Academy (14-6) will advance to play at No. 1 seed The First Academy (25-3) in the 3A – Region 3 semifinals on Saturday, May 14 at 7 p.m.
CLASS 2A – REGION 4 QUARTERFINAL: RESULTS
•No. 3 seed Trinity Christian Academy 7, No. 6 seed Archbishop Carroll 0
Trinity Christian Academy (14-6-1) will advance to the Class 2A – Region 4 semifinal round and play No. 2 seed John Carroll Catholic (19-9) on the road Saturday night (May 14) at 7 p.m.
•No. 1 seed Miami Christian 8, No. 8 seed Jupiter Christian 2
Jupiter Christian ends its season with a 10-13-1 record
REGIONAL SEMIFINALS: CLASS 3A, CLASS 2A
Saturday, May 14 – 7 p.m. first pitch
REGIONAL FINALS: CLASS 3A, CLASS 2A
Tuesday, May 17 – 7 p.m. first pitch
