Orlando Christian Prep Wins Big Over Merritt Island Christian

A 2A-4 showdown between Brevard County’s Merritt Island Christian Prep and Orange County’s Orlando Christian Prep was a good preview of the new district realignment for this season. The 16 division class has been shortened to nine 2A districts in the Orlando area, giving the Cougars and Warriors the chance to face each other for the first time in a few years.

On this night it was the home team taking home the big victory, as Orlando Christian Prep won 15-3 to improve to 2-0 in the district. The Warriors (3-0) find themselves in first place in the early going of the district chase.

Orlando Christian manager Cody Hancock was very pleased with his team’s performance.

“We had a great approach at the plate tonight,” Hancock said. “We really hit the ball to the opposite field and executed our bunts to perfection. I’m proud of these boys tonight and can’t wait for next week. Starting off the season on the right foot was definitely something we were preaching to our guys.”

To start, both pitchers found their grooves early and pitched shutout first innings. The Cougars had Chandler Dwyer on the bump who ended up taking the loss after a three inning performance, allowing six runs off nine hits. Dwyer was hot early but found himself in too many hitters counts, which an experienced Warriors team took advantage of.

The bats finally came around for Orlando Christian in the second inning. They pushed across three runs after second baseman Angel Cosme got on by being hit by a pitch. Another three-run inning ensued in the third after four singles in a row along, with a few errors in the field by the Cougars.

It wasn’t until the bottom of the fourth inning before the game really went one-sided. After Merritt Island replaced Dwyer on the mound with Steven Williams, the Warriors jumped for nine runs in a mercy-rule winning performance. Five batters walked while six batters got hits, and the runs kept piling up for the Cougars.

Senior pitcher, Steven Perez, was incredibly dominant from the mound and at the plate during tonight’s game. He threw three and two-third innings with six strikeouts and three earned runs. A verbal commit to Southern Wesleyan in South Carolina, Perez had his curveball untouched all night.

“It’s my put-away pitch,” Perez explained. “I like to go fastball away before I bring the hook back in and lock up the batters. I had my mind and body right all day preparing for tonight, and it felt good to go out there and be dominant for sure.”

Merritt Island Christian manager Carlton Hall was nothing but proud of his boys Friday.

“They worked their butts off tonight. It was our first game of the season,” Hall said. “So getting to see some live pitching off the mound was very beneficial for our guys. We’ve got a long season. Now that ‘OCP’ is in our division, we can’t wait to play them again in a few weeks back at our place.”

A long night that ended shortly after five innings, there were a lot of things both managers wanted to work on for next week. With the first week of the season under both team’s belts, each are optimistic about the upcoming baseball season and what the 2A Class has in store for them both.

Leave a comment using your facebook account!