TFA fades vs. Miami Christian in FHSAA baseball state semifinal

The First Academy got off to a promising start Monday afternoon during a Florida High School Athletic Association Class 2A baseball state semifinal in Fort Myers .

But Miami Christian (22-4) plated five runs in the second inning, then held off the Royals (24-7) the rest of the way for a 9-2 finish at Hammond Stadium.

The 3A state champion in 2021, TFA stranded nine runners and committed three errors in the loss.

The Royals jumped out to an early advantage by logging four hits and scoring both runs in the top of the first inning on RBI singles by seniors Will Dizney and Zack Hopper.

Miami Christian scored in the bottom half of the frame to make it 2-1 when a runner scored from third on a double-play ball hit to the right side of the field.

TFA later loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a single by Blake Fields in the sixth but got nothing to show for it.

Fields finished 2-for-3 with a double, one walk and one run scored.

Remo Indomenico, Austin Pierzynski and Roy Rodriguez each went 1-for-4 for the Royals.

The Victors, state champs in 2022, ‘19, ‘18 and 1975, racked up 10 hits and two stolen bases in all while improving to 9-0 all-time in state tournament games.

Miami Christian advances to face 2023 runner-up Orange Park St. Johns Country Day (24-6) on Wednesday afternoon.

Country Day won 5-4 on a walk-off 2-run double to left-center vs. St. Petersburg Northside Christian (20-10) in the other semifinal.

This article originally appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com . Email J.C. Carnahan at jcarnahan@orlandosentinel.com .