Trinity Christian can't get offense going in baseball state semifinals

Conquerors manage just three hits in loss to Delray Beach American Heritage

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Trinity Christian's bats went quiet on Friday in the baseball state semifinals. 

Nelson Berkwich was the reason why. 

Delay Beach American Heritage iced the Conquerors 9-0 in the Class 4A state semifinals in Fort Myers. American Heritage (29-2), ranked No. 23 in MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national poll, used a three-hitter with nine strikeouts by Berkwich to roll into the state title game on Saturday. 

The Conquerors (19-9) were making their third state semifinal appearance since 2015. Trinity won the Class 4A state title in 2015. 

Nothing worked on Friday for Trinity. 

American Heritage chased Trinity starter Dylan Simmons in the fourth inning and widened its lead to 9-0 by the sixth against Justin Parrish. Bryce Janney induced a double play to escape a bases loaded jam in the sixth and avoid a potential mercy rule. 

Most of those runs wouldn't matter because of how well Berkwich limited the Trinity bats. 

The Conquerors managed just three hits off of the Vanderbilt commit — a single by Matt Crump in the fourth and base hits by Dawson Fietsam and Jared Donald in the seventh. They managed just four other runners on base after that. 

Trinity was the first of three area baseball teams to play in the state semifinals. Suwannee faces Melbourne Central Catholic in the Class 5A game on May 29 (10 a.m.) and Creekside faces Venice on May 31 at 3 p.m. in the 7A game. 


About the Author:

Justin Barney joined News4Jax in February 2019, but he’s been covering sports on the First Coast for more than 20 years.