With a record of 3-0, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School varsity baseball team strived to maintain their undefeated record in a home game for the BCAA tier 1 game tournament against Monarch High School on Monday, Feb. 26.
The MSD Eagles came off a successful week, beating Westminster Academy and Miami Springs High School by scores of 14-0 and 8-0, just days before their victory against Monarch.
At 6:30 p.m., the game began, and the away Monarch Knights stepped up to the plate. To prepare for a competitive game ahead of him, MSD pitcher Gavin Gargiulo (8) struck out all three
players, making them quickly go into the bottom of the first inning.
On the offensive side of the first inning, the eagles also remained scoreless. All three Eagles who stepped up to bat were all unsuccessful, and the Knights made a quick transition into the second inning.
Back on defense, the eagles were able to deny the knights the chance to put their name on the scoreboard, and headed into the bottom of the second inning. Switching to offense, the Eagles got their first action of the game and first baseman Niko Benestad (6) made it to second base on a double. However, Nick Diaz (11) lined into a double play to second baseman, preventing Benestad from advancing from second base, leading to them both getting out and ending the inning.
To start the third inning, Benestad helps with another ground out for the Eagles and Gargiulo pitches another strike out. After another ground out by second baseman Erick Torres (2) and Benestad, the Eagles quickly switched into offense.
Right fielder Lorenzo Laurel (16) hit a double on a fly ball to center field, advancing him to second base. Soon after, Catcher Drew Freeman (9) singles on a bunt, allowing Laurel to make it to third base. Following up, Torres hits a sacrifice fly to have Laurel score the first run of the game and puts Freeman at third base.
Another sacrifice ball by Alex Rodriguez (13) gets Freeman to score the second run for the Eagles, putting another point on the scoreboard. Devin Fitz-Gerald (3) hits a ground ball and reaches an error by the Knight’s third baseman. Third baseman Rylan Lujo (14)doubles on a line drive, allowing Fitz-Gerald to score the third point. At the end of the third inning, the Eagles have a lead of 3-0.
“I think that we played really well as a team today. We had some really great energy out on the field and we just need to keep it up and keep winning,” Benestad said.
With the fourth inning starting and quickly, Gargiulo and Benestad helped by scoring a bunt. Then, two ground outs with the help of Gargiulo, D. Fitz- Gerald, and Benestad made a fast transition into the bottom inning.
The bottom of the inning began with Benestad walking from a hit by a pitch, advancing him to first base. Diaz singles on a line drive, letting Benestad get to second. Laurel flies out, while both Diaz and Benestad stay in their positions. Benestad gets caught stealing third, Diaz advances to second base, and Freeman strikes out.
“We really went out there and gave it our all. We’ve been putting up some good numbers on the scoreboard and I’m happy with how the boys and I have been able to dominate our games,” Diaz said.
Early into the fifth inning, the Knights were put on the scoreboard by a home run on a fly ball to the left side of the field. Putting the score at 3-1, with the Eagles still taking the lead.
Two outs were soon made by a fly out from Laurel and a strike out from Gargiulo pitching. To end the top of the fifth inning, the Knight grounded out by Torres to Benestad.
Starting on offense, Torres scores a single on a line drive along with Rodriguez walking, advancing Torres to second. D. Fitz-Gerald grounded out and Torres scored the next point for the Eagles and Rodriguez went to third. Next, Lujo doubles on a fly ball, allowing Rodriguez to score another point for the team.
With the score now being 5-1 and the team crowd cheering, the Eagles are ready to start the bottom inning. Gary flies out and Benestad walks, putting Lujo at third. With two bases loaded, Diaz singled on a hard ground ball, scoring two more runs by Lujo and Jake Rizzo (17), putting Diaz at third base. Mickey Case (25) strikes out, ending a great inning played by the Eagles. The score was now 7-1 to start off the sixth inning.
Monarch grounds into a double play by Gargiulo to Freedman to Benestad. Shortly after, Gargiulo pitches another strike out, summing up the top inning.
Rodriguez walked to start the inning, allowing Torres to advance to second base. Torres again moved to third on an error, ready to score another point for the Eagles. D. Fitz-Gerald singled on a line drive, letting Torres score another run and advancing Rodriguez to third. Rodriguez scored the next point on a wild pitch and D. Fitz-Gerald advanced to second and then went to third soon after from an error. Lujo gets out on a sacrifice fly, letting D. Fitz-Gerald score another run.
After several close plays and attempts to raise the score, the score remained 10-1 for the seventh inning. The Eagles defeated the Knights on a mercy rule, leaving their undefeated record for this year’s season still going strong. The next game is a home game against Taravella High School on Wednesday, February 28 at 6:30 p.m.
