Trinity Christian Reaches 2A State Championship

The Conquerors celebrate after winning Monday’s state semifinal to return to the state final.

It has been nearly a year to the day since the Trinity Christian Academy Conquerors last played in the state championship, but now they are back again. By staying true to a formula that has worked all season, Trinity Christian overcame an early hole to earn a 7-2 win over the Lakeland Christian Vikings, in Monday’s Class 2A state semifinal at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.

The Conquerors got a stellar start from their ace, and the big bats did the damage at the plate to earn the victory that rewards a chance to return to the title game in search of the program’s second state championship. Trinity Christian (26-8) will square off against the True North Titans (22-7) on Tuesday afternoon for the right to hoist the 2A crown.

Trinity returns quite a few of the guys who played in last year’s championship, as they have taken the reigns to lead this team all season. After the Vikings jumped out with an early 2-0 edge with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, lead-off hitter Brady Harris wasted no time in leading the response. Harris stroked a triple into the left field corner to immediately ignite his offense, then scored on a sac fly from Aiden Arnett to cut the deficit in half.

That was only the start of Harris’ big day at the plate. He connected for another triple his second time around, and also drew a pair of walks to reach base all four plate appearances. He also scored all four times.

The Conquerors tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the third on Harris’ second three-bagger, and took the lead with four runs in the fourth. Starting pitcher Ethan Wheeler worked a lead-off walk and was replaced on the bases by courtesy-runner Braylen Taylor, Chris Reali was hit by a pitch and then Harris was intentionally walked to set up a force-out opportunity at any base.

But Arnett spoiled that plan with a base hit to center that drove in two runs and put Trinity in the lead, where it stayed the rest of the way. Jordan Martinez next plated two more with a single to left.

Wheeler delivered a quality start to pick up the win on the mound. The right-hander went six full innings on exactly 105 pitches, allowing two earned runs on five hits and two walks. He piled up seven strikeouts before turning things over to Romy DeCenzo to close out the seventh.

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