True North impressive in state baseball finals debut in win over Berkeley Prep
Senior pitcher Will Foss has been a part of the True North Classical Academy baseball team since its inception five years ago.
So even though his start was interrupted Monday afternoon by a 2 ½-hour weather delay in the Titans’ state final four debut, there was no way Foss was going to let anyone keep him from coming back in the game.
“I kept saying, I have to go back out there,” Foss said. “I told them I promise I’ll go out there and get the job done. They trusted in me and we got the job done.”
Foss pitched 6 ⅓ innings, and backed by a collective and prolific 16-hit output by True North’s lineup, the Titans secured an impressive 9-4 win over Tampa Berkeley Prep in a Class 2A state semifinal at Hammond Stadium.
True North (22-7) will next face Jacksonville Trinity Christian at 4 on Tuesday in the 2A final as it tries to win its first state championship. The Conquerors (26-8), ranked No. 20 nationally by MaxPreps, beat Lakeland Christian, 7-2, in the other semifinal on Monday.
“He was in my ear, saying ‘I’m not done yet,’” True North coach Adrian Nieto said. “Luckily for us, it was a team effort. Our trainer was icing him up and making sure he stayed warm throughout all of it. We knew we needed to turn the switch on any minute. He wanted the ball in his last high school start and wasn’t going to go out that easily.”
Foss gave up four runs on eight hits and one walk and struck out six. Three of those runs came in the seventh inning, however, with the Titans already ahead 9-1. Senior Alex Diaz closed out the win by recording the final two outs.
True North jumped in front of the Buccaneers (27-7) quickly with three runs in the first inning, and were aggressive on the basepaths, stealing bases and bunting runners over. It has been a trademark of their teams under Nieto, a former major leaguer with the Chicago White Sox, who also spent time in the Miami Marlins’ farm system in 2016 and 2019.
“That’s just our identity, it’s no secret,” said Nieto, an American Heritage alum. “The first year, second year, it caught up on you. Sometimes I don’t even give them signs. We’ve got guys that have been here three and four years or more and they do a great job knowing the situation.”
Leadoff hitter Kash Ojeda, who had two hits and two RBI, was one of six Titans who finished with two hits each. Junior Noah Gamboa finished with three hits while Carlos Victorero and Mike Cuenca each had two hits and two RBI.
Victorero also made a huge play with True North leading 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth when he threw out Lucas Farrar advancing to third to end the frame.
The Titans broke the game open in the seventh with five runs, highlighted by a two-run single by Cuenca and an RBI double by Danilo Bossano.
“Punch first. If you look back at our games the last few weeks, we’ve been doing that every time and against a team like Berekeley Prep, nationally-ranked, like they are, it shows them we came to play,” Nieto said. “The key is being a tough 21 outs, simple as that.”
Foss made sure he stayed loose after the game was halted in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Foss, who exited after throwing 101 pitches, said he threw lightly every 15-20 minutes, performed light drills and even pitched in one of the stadium tunnels in between stretching with his coaches.
“It’s incredible,” said Foss, who shared an emotional hug with his mom as she leaned over the edge of the dugout to welcome him after he left the field.
“I just want to thank the fans and my parents, my family, coaches, and it felt so great to be able to do something like that today. We used all the resources we had and got it done.”
