CCC Marauders Beat Berkeley and Punch Ticket to Regionals

The Buccaneers came out firing.

Sophomore Bubba Olivera hit the first pitch of the game down the third-base line for a single. Sophomore Chris Erdmier bunted him to second-base. Then junior Destin Nichols drove in Olivera. By the second inning the Marauders were already down three runs.

But the Marauders looked sharp down the stretch with senior starting pitcher Jeff Campbell on the mound and sacked the Buccaneers 7-3 Tuesday night at the 3A District 10 tournament moving on to regional play with the win.

They still have to play Tampa Catholic for the district championship Thursday.

“We knew when we got to our seniors in the line-up that they were gonna drive it,” said Marauder head coach Todd Vaughan.

And Campbell seemed to tighten his grip on the Berkeley hitters as the game went on finishing with six strikeouts, five of them coming in the last four innings, and a home run. 

As the upset pot started to boil. The frustration set in, especially on the face of Campbell. The tension was thick in the ball park as Campbell stepped to the plate.

Berkeley pitcher, Zack Sutton sent one in and Campbell unloaded on it, sending it deep over the center field wall. This ignited the CCC bench and the whole dugout came to home plate to welcome Campbell in.

Then senior Seth Paitsel came up and crushed a line drive deep to dead center. This one did not clear the fence but cleared the head of centerfielder, Anderson Baldy for a stand-up double. Now, the juices were flowing. The dugout came alive and all kinds of noise and banter started to pour from it.

Two batters later, sophomore Benny Mendizabal stepped up and crushed a pitch deep to center field. Mendizabal could have a tie with senior Ryan Hallam for smallest guy on the team. However, this hit had “big boy” tattooed all over it as it carried and sailed over the wall for a two-run homer.

Again, the dugout cleared to welcome in Mendizabal for his first career home-run.

“We had two outs and a runner on second, I was just looking for something I could drive. I got a good pitch down the middle and put a good swing on it,” Mendizabal said after the game.

That second inning was the fulcrum from which the game swung permanently in CCC’s favor.

In the third inning, junior Carter Cashman smashed one off the left-center wall. Junior Ray Fox doubled him in and senior Eric Simone was hit by a pitch and awarded first base.

Berkeley coach Justin Houston went to his bullpen, bringing in freshman Dante Bosnic. CCC smelled blood in the water.

Marauder Assistant Coach John Petika huddled with the next few batters in the lineup while Bosnic took warm-up pitches. CCC is familiar with Bosnic and his curveball.

“If it ain’t spinning, swing at it,” Petika said.

Bosnic got Campbell to ground into a force out, then hit Paitsel with a pitch, loading the bases.

The first pressure-cooker spot of the game was at hand.

Sophomore Johnny Karaphillis stepped to the plate with two outs and bases loaded and a one-run lead. Karaphillis laced a line-drive between the first and second baseman into right field driving in two runs. This broke the game open for CCC. They finished the third inning with four runs, etching the final score by the bottom of the third frame, 7-3.

On deck:

What: Tampa Catholic and CCC play for the district championship

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: 2750 Haines Bayshore Road