Lakeland Christian baseball's repeat title hopes doused in extra innings

LAKELAND — There will be no repeat for Lakeland Christian’s baseball team.

Austin Pierzynski’s RBI double plated the winning run in the top of the eighth inning as First Academy took an 8-6 victory over Lakeland Christian in the Class 2A, Region 3 final on Tuesday night at Vikings Field.

First Academy (24-6) will advance to the state semifinals against St. John’s Country Day on Monday in Fort Myers.

Pierzynski, the son of former MLB catcher A.J. Pierzynski, completed a comeback for the Royals, who trailed 6-2 before steadily chipping away at their deficit.

“It’s a tough way to end any year,” Lakeland Christian coach Matt Diaz said. “I told the guys that we’ve been blessed to end some seasons on wins more times than most teams get to. Only one team in 2A gets to end on a win and that’s the reality of the situation.”

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A combination of things sunk Lakeland Christian (23-5) against First Academy.

After falling behind 4-1 after the first inning, The Royals were able to get into the Vikings’ bullpen by being patient at the plate and drawing walks.

Trailing 6-2 after three innings, First Academy scored a run in each of the next two innings before getting a game-tying, two-run double from Will Dizney.

The other part that helped do in Lakeland Christian was a phenomenal relief pitching performance from First Academy sophomore Josh Garcia, who had only thrown 13 innings all year.

“Our scouting report on him was not extensive,” Diaz said. “We tried to make him throw his fastball for a first strike and he did that. His changeup wasn’t working tonight so he just relied on his heater. It was impressive the way he was able to work it on the outside corner. He had a really good game.”

Garcia gave up just one run after relieving starter Zack Hopper with the bases loaded in the second inning. That included a stretch between the fourth and eighth innings where he gave up just one hit and struck out five in a row at one point.

First Academy was forced to relieve Garcia with two outs in the eighth inning when he reached his pitch limit.

Lakeland Christian immediately got a runner on thanks to an error, but couldn't push the runner around to score.

Things looked good early for the Vikings as Mitchell Rodriguez’s three-run home run gave his team a 3-1 lead. Lakeland Christian led 5-1 after two innings and 6-2 after three.

The Vikings got numerous great defensive plays to keep them in the lead as shortstop Colby Brewington and first baseman Dan Colon each made a couple of run-saving stops to limit the Royals from getting a big inning.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland Christian baseball's repeat title hopes doused in extra innings