Trinity Christian had been in this spot before, down two runs to Bishop Snyder in a must-win playoff game.
Like about seven hours before.
There was no panic, just poise. No concern, just confidence. No fear, just focus.
“It’s been the story of our year; we’ve been down at late points of the game and we fight like crazy,” Trinity first baseman Tyler Ellis said.
And what a story Trinity Christian wrote on the afternoon and evening of May 9 in the Region 1-2A final best-of-3 baseball series.
Afternoon: The Conquerors turned a 3-1 deficit into a 6-4 win to even the series.
Evening: The Conquerors turned a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 win and the regional title, moving them to within two victories of the Class 2A state title.
Down to their final five outs, Trinity batted around in the sixth inning, stringing together a hit-by-pitch and five singles to score four runs, capped by right fielder JaRod Flowers’ two-run, two-out single.
“They just show so much fight,” coach Jon Murphy said.
Murphy paused, grabbed the brim of his cap and shook his head.
“I’m so proud of them,” he continued. “Being down late, they believe in each other so much and you saw that on this field.”
Saw it on this field twice.
Just call them the Comeback Conquerors.
“All these guys hate losing and will do whatever it takes,” second baseman Parker Loew said.
’Great’ at-bats fueled rally
What a thrilling day of baseball for this city. Packed bleachers. Great defense. Gutsy pitching. And clutch hitting. Three weeks after Trinity rallied from five runs down to beat Snyder, 11-10, in 13 innings to win the District 3-2A title, the teams collided again.
The Cardinals (23-8) rolled to a 9-2 win in Game 1 on May 9, giving them two chances to win one game and reach the state final four for the first time in school history.
The deciding game between the schools 6.7 miles apart on Jacksonville’s Westside was delayed until 7 p.m. because of rain. Trinity’s Jordan Martinez and Snyder’s Cody Boshell traded solo home runs to start the scoring.
Snyder took the lead in the fourth when it scratched together a run via walk, walk, error and hit-by-pitch and extended the lead to two on Tanner Upton’s two-out single in the sixth.
Trinity went to work with one out in the sixth. It was nothing flashy. Just solid, grind-it-out baseball.
Aiden Arnett was hit by a pitch (on a 0-2 count). … Martinez singled. … Ellis singled to cut the lead to 3-2. … Loew singled to tie the game. … Ethan Wheeler singled to load the bases.
“It was being willing to do whatever it takes,” Murphy said. “They locked in and had great at-bats off a really tough arm (Snyder side-armed pitcher Lewis Turner).”
“We were just trying to pass the torch to each other,” said Loew, who is headed to LSU with Martinez.
“This is a big group of seniors and we know it’s our last ride,” said Ellis, who is headed to Florida with teammate Brady Harris.
A big group of battle-tested seniors, but it was the only junior in the starting lineup who delivered the game-winning hit.
After a strikeout, Flowers stepped to the plate.
Flowers’ ‘surreal moment’
According to MaxPreps, Flowers entered Game 3 with a .187 batting average and five runs batted in.
But that’s what makes tournament time great, right?
In any kind of playoff series in any sport, the motto is “It … Takes … Everybody.”
Flowers had walked in the third and struck out bunting with two runners on base in the fifth. In this key at-bat, there was a brief controversy when Flowers was called for fouling off a pitch even though it appeared to hit him in the hand.
“Thought it hit me, but whatever,” he said. “Just had to stay locked in. I told myself I’m playing for the seniors instead of playing for myself because it’s their last season. This was their last time on this field. I was thinking about that the whole time.”
Flowers laced a slider into center to score two runs.
“I’d rather do what I just did than (reach base) getting hit by a pitch, for sure,” he said. “I don’t even remember what I did (running to first base). I blacked out. A surreal moment.”
One of many surreal moments for Trinity against Bishop Snyder, ranked first and second respectively by the Florida High School Athletic Association for Class 2A.
Martinez hit three home runs in Games 2-3 and was the Game 3 winning pitcher in relief. Starting pitcher Chris Reali made his first appearance of the season (elbow). Loew made only his fourth pitching appearance of the year. And Romy DeCenzo closed out the game with a strikeout.
“We’ve talked about mental toughness, loving your teammates and playing with joy all year and they’ve embraced that,” Murphy said.
Said Flowers: “We just fight to the end, from pitch No. 1 to the last pitch.”
Trinity Christian’s fight moves on to Fort Myers and a state semifinal game on May 18, a year after it lost to Orlando First Academy in the title game. And after beating Bishop Snyder three times in four games during the postseason, don’t even think about counting out the Cardiac Conquerors.
Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com or on X at @ryanohalloran. Listen to Ryan on 1010AM for segments every Tuesday (6:35 p.m. on “Into The Night) and Thursday (1:15 p.m. in “XL Primetime”), a new two-hour show every Friday (“The Lead,” from 4-6 p.m.) and Wednesdays on X (3:20 p.m. on “Duval Rundown”).
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Trinity Christian baseball rallies, advances to Class 2A final four
Reporting by Ryan O’Halloran, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
