Sixth-inning miscues sink Trinity Christian in FHSAA baseball semifinal

A nightmare sixth inning turned out the lights on Trinity Christian 's championship hopes.

Seven consecutive batters reached in a five-run sixth, highlighted by Manny Marin's double, and Westminster Christian rallied past the Conquerors 6-4 in Wednesday's Florida High School Athletic Association Class 2A baseball semifinal.

Marin's double against reliever Tyler Ellis scored Westminster Christian infielder William Alvarez with the go-ahead run as errors and hit batters proved costly for Conquerors (24-7).

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Aiden Arnett gave Trinity hope with a one-out single in the seventh, but Westminster Christian closer Austin Wiegandt forced Brayden Harris to ground into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play as the Warriors (25-4), 11-time state champions, advance to a 2 p.m. Wednesday final against North Broward Prep.

Trinity's day turned sour in the sixth. After loading the bases against pitcher Aaron Watson, Alvarez whacked a double, which brought around two runs and scored a third when the outfield throw from Brayden Harris in left struck shortstop Jordan Martinez and bounced away to allow the tying run to score. Martinez, injured by the throw, was forced to leave the game.

For most of the afternoon, it looked like Trinity Christian's day at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, boosted by a strong start from sophomore Ethan Wheeler (4 1/3 innings, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) before the FHSAA pitch-count limit forced him to depart the mound.

Florida commit Brady Harris gave Trinity an early lead with a first-inning homer to left against Miami-signed right-hander Lazaro Collera. Trinity added another in the second on a Tyler Ellis RBI triple, and scored twice in the sixth when Gage Petrutz hit an RBI single and later came around to score on a passed ball.

The Conquerors are set to return nearly their entire lineup for 2025, including nationally-ranked sophomore prospects Brady Harris, Brayden Harris and Wheeler.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Sixth-inning miscues sink Trinity Christian in FHSAA baseball semifinal