Westminster Christian perseveres late vs. Chaminade to move on to regional final

A team more used to winning games by mercy rule than tense one-run nail biters got put to the test in a big way on Saturday afternoon.

But in the end, Westminster Christian, thanks to the heroics of Ethan Puig and pitcher Austin Wiegandt, found a way to survive and advance to the next round of the regional playoffs as the Warriors edged a rejuvenated Chaminade-Madonna team, 3-2, in a Region 4-3A semifinal at Westminster Christian.

With two outs in the bottom of the sixth and the game locked in a 2-2 tie, Puig, a University of Miami commit, hit a rope down the left field line, scoring Eric Eikenberg from second to give the Warriors the lead for good.

Wiegandt, the team’s closer who normally enters late but had to come in the game all the way back in the third inning when starter Chris Estrada struggled, was dominant all day. Battling mid-90s heat, Wiegandt only struck out three batters but only gave up three hits and walked just one.

“A real scratch and grinder for us today but you’ve got to look at that team over there (pointing to Chaminade players in right field) and tip your cap to them,” Westminster Christian coach Emil Castellanos said. “They’re a tough opponent and I told my kids that coming in. You looked at their record and wondered was it all that much but I told the kids they’ve had a nice turnaround season and then went in and beat Pace on their field the other night (9-6 in a regional quarterfinal contest) so we were not surprised that they came in here and competed with us today the way they did.”

The No. 1 seeded Warriors, the No. 5 ranked team in the state regardless of classification, improved to 23-4 and will now host No. 2 seed Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian in a Region 4-3A final on Tuesday at 4 p.m. A program that once upon a time went to the state final four with regularity will be looking for only its second trip to state in the last nine years. The Warriors have also been tied with Key West for the most state titles with 11 since winning their last one in 2015 and are looking to own the record by themselves.

Chaminade starter Michael Gine struggled in the first inning, walking three batters and giving up an unearned run on a throwing error at third base. But after that, Gine was outstanding, using his off-speed curve ball to keep Westminster batters off balance. The Warriors plated another unearned run in the last of the third on another error to tie the game at 2-2 but never did get a single hit off Gine.

The Lions (16-10) got their only two runs in the third by taking advantage of a huge break. After Estrada issued three consecutive one-out walks and was done for the day, designated hitter Miguel Rosa was Wiegandt’s first hitter and hit a ground ball to shortstop that looked like a tailor-made 6-4-3 inning ending double play.

But the ball took a bad hop, bouncing over shortstop Manny Marin’s head and into left field allowing two runs to come in.

After issuing one-out walks to Jose Lopez and James Suarez in the last of the fifth, Gine was at 98 pitches and “gassed out.” Reliever Jack Miller managed to induce a fielder’s choice and fly out to center to put out that rally but in the last of the sixth, he walked Eikenberg, the leadoff hitter and Juan Godoy laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt.

Then Marin, a University of Tennessee commit, stepped up and drilled a shot to left field that, on any other day where the wind usually is always blowing out, would’ve easily cleared the fence. But the wind was blowing in on this day (which, according to Castellanos, hardly ever does) and Chaminade left fielder Jon Gourrier, with his back to the fence, brought it in.

But that was only the second out. Puig then came up and drilled his game-winner which was Westminster’s first hit of the day.

“I was just trying to do my best to score him any way we could and got something out over the plate I could handle,” Puig said. “Then Austin was such a bulldog on the mound out there all day, I knew he would be able to close it out for us. Their lefty (Gine) was tough, you’ve got to tip your cap to him. He kept us off balance all day and we just kept grinding to try and make him work to get his pitch count up.”

The heat had little effect on Wiegandt as he got stronger each inning and retired the side in order in the seventh to close things out.

“The way I saw it, it was just another day on the mound,” Wiegandt said. “Pounding the zone, no walks and just do what you have to do. I knew my team had my back behind me if I just allowed them to put the ball in play. Just let’em put it in play and let my defense do the work and that’s what they did. The heat? I didn’t even know it was hot out there. I was just focused and in a zone. You can’t worry about the elements.”

The Lions, coming off an 8-16 campaign last season, were one of the turnaround stories of the year under first year head coach Mark McCoy. Making their first regional playoff appearance in 10 years, they finished 16-10.

This story was originally published May 12, 2024 at 8:49 AM.