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State baseball: Unbeaten Calvary Christian makes it 29 straight wins, reaches final

 
Calvary Christian players celebrate their win after the FHSAA class 4A semi-final against American Heritage on Friday May 26, 2017 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Fla. Calvary defeated American Heritage 7 to 1. Calvary takes on Pensacola Catholic in the championship tomorrow night, at Hammond Stadium.
Calvary Christian players celebrate their win after the FHSAA class 4A semi-final against American Heritage on Friday May 26, 2017 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Fla. Calvary defeated American Heritage 7 to 1. Calvary takes on Pensacola Catholic in the championship tomorrow night, at Hammond Stadium.
Published May 27, 2017

FORT MYERS — Calvary Christian is one game from season-long perfection. And its first state championship.

The Warriors pounded out 10 hits, played solid defense and got another stellar outing from sophomore starter Nolan Hudi to defeat Delray Beach American Heritage 7-1 Friday night in the Class 3A state semifinal at Hammond Stadium. Calvary Christian (29-0) will play Pensacola Catholic (23-6) tonight at 7:35 for the championship.

"This is awesome," junior first baseman Cavan Ingram said. "This is something you'll never experience again."

Ingram played a big part in the win. He was 2-for-4 with three RBIs, including a big hit in the first inning. With two outs, Graham Hoffman singled off Stallions' freshman starter Nelson Berkwich, who is already committed to Vanderbilt. Matheu Nelson walked and Marco Benedettini had a bunt single to load the bases. Ingram then singled home two runs for a quick 2-0 lead.

"I wasn't trying to do too much," Ingram said. "We didn't need a home run. We just needed a base hit to put us ahead."

Hudi, who pitched six innings and gave up two hits and one run, ran into trouble in the third. With one out and one on, Stallions' designated hitter Chris Ferara doubled to left-centerfield. Shortstop Graham Hoffman took the relay throw and pegged Bailey Uderitz at the plate for the second out.

But Troy Hamilton tripled in a run to cut the lead to 2-1. After that, American Heritage only got a runner to second base once.

The Warriors continued to hit. They got two runs in the fourth inning on RBI singles from Eric Kennedy and Hoffman. Then in the sixth, the game broke open. Calvary Christian got three more runs off Berkwich and reliever Eli Zuckerman. All of those runs came with two outs. Justin Bench tripled, and Hoffman drove him in for a 5-1 lead. Two throwing errors allowed two more runs to score.

Hudi, who improves to 10-0, continued to throw strikes and let his defense record outs. He gave way to reliever Braden Halladay in the seventh. Halladay got the final three outs.

"I was really comfortable," Hudi said. "That's easy when you're around guys like this every day. It's hard not be comfortable. Everything seemed to line up the way we hoped it would."

Every player except one in Calvary Christian's starting lineup had at least one hit. American Heritage got both of its hits in the third inning.

"This is kind of the way our season has gone," Calvary Christian coach Greg Olsen said. "These guys are a family and they pick each other up. Whatever we need to, they do it."

Contact Rodney Page at rpage@tampabay.com. Follow @RodneyHomeTeam.