Trinity Christian will play for a baseball state championship.
The prospect-laden Conquerors pulled away with a four-run fourth inning to beat Lakeland Christian 7-2 in the Class 2A state semifinals on Monday morning in Fort Myers. Aiden Arnett and Jordan Martinez drove in three runs apiece as Trinity powered on. The Conquerors won their only state title in 2015.
Brady Harris reached base all four times for the Conquerors (double, triple, two walks) and scored each time. Trinity will play for the state championship on Tuesday at 4 p.m. against either Miami True North. The Conquerors finished as state runner-up last year and made it their mission to get back and finish the job. Head coach Jonathan Murphy has steered one of the most prospect-heavy teams in area history back to the title game.
Eight of its nine senior starters have signed with colleges. Harris is a serious pro draft prospect. The Conquerors (26-8) played a brutal schedule that included a slew of nationally ranked programs, and needed to come back from a 1-0 series deficit in the regional finals against Bishop Snyder to make it into Monday’s final four game.
Arnett ripped a single up the middle in the bottom of the fourth to break a 2-all tie and Martinez followed with another two-run single to push that lead to 6-2, and that was all the Conquerors needed. Tyler Ellis added two hits for Trinity.
On the mound, Ethan Wheeler settled in after a shaky first inning where he gave up both runs. He went six innings and struck out seven to send Trinity on.