After a 5-3 loss to Gaither on March 30, Strawberry Crest baseball fell to 8-6 on the year with a run that featured four losses over their previous seven contests, facing what seemed to be a mountainous climb if the Chargers hoped to recreate something similar to their 2022 season in which they rattled off a 20-9 record en route to their fourth consecutive district title and a trip to the regional finals.
But since that loss the Chargers have been red hot, currently riding a five-game win streak that continued with a 9-3 victory over Armwood on Tuesday to put Crest at 13-6 on the season.
Hitting first as the visiting team, Crest senior Jace Raburn opened the contest with a walk but was ultimately caught attempting to steal second for the first out of the inning. A line out to center and a strikeout ended the Chargers’ top of the first quietly and junior Brayden Dicerb took the mound for the bottom half of the frame.
A consistent presence on the bump for Crest, Dicerb entered his second start of the season with 19.1 innings pitched across 13 appearances — nearly all coming in relief — where he had notched 19 strikeouts and just six earned runs on the year. And despite a leadoff walk putting a runner on quickly for Armwood, the runner ultimately moving to second on a passed ball, Dicerb worked through the first with ease as he recorded a strikeout and induced a pair of fly outs to end the frame.
A pair of baserunners courtesy of hit by pitch in the top of the second and a single and stolen base from freshman Reuben Vasquez in the top of the third gave the Chargers runners in scoring position over the next two innings, but they were unable to capitalize as Dicerb, in turn, kept Armwood off the board through three.
In the top of the fourth, Strawberry Crest broke the game open with timely hits, strong at bats and exceedingly smart baserunning. After a fly out opened the inning, senior Zach Redner reached safely with a base hit up the middle. Freshman Dillon Knight then reached on a hit by pitch and senior Eli Vickers drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases. After a long at bat from freshman Toby Highsmith — taking the count full — he ultimately drew a walk of his own to push Redner across and give the Chargers a 1-0 lead. Senior Ray Allen Vazquez followed the walk up by ripping a line drive right at the Armwood third baseman, deflecting off his arm and toward shortstop as Knight crossed the plate and all runners were able to advance safely. After freshman Raymond Llanes worked the count full in the next at bat, he earned a walk on a passed ball and not only did Vickers score from third, but each trail runner ran hard to move up a base as well as the catcher retrieved the loose ball — seeing courtesy runner Nico Cappucci score from second to give the Chargers a 4-0 lead as Llanes and Ray Allen Vasquez took second and third, respectively. Reuben Vasquez rolled over a ground ball right back to the pitcher in the ensuing at bat but the Chargers baserunning took advantage once again as Ray Allen Vasquez broke for home, beating the throw and giving Crest a 5-0 lead. Amongst the chaos, Reuben Vasquez made a break for second as the play at the plate unfolded and ultimately ended up in a rundown between first and second when Llanes took off for home looking to score, sliding in safely in his own play at the plate to put the Chargers up 6-0 while Reuben Vasquez consequently advanced to second safely on the throw. A strikeout marked the second out of the inning and a slow, spinning ground ball to first was misplayed by Armwood, allowing Reuben Vasquez to score all the way from second to cap off the Chargers’ seven-run inning.
Following a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth, Dicerb retired the next three Armwood hitters in order to end his night after four scoreless innings —moving his earned run average down to just 1.80 on the year.
The Chargers tacked on two more runs with an RBI single from Llanes and a sac fly from Redner in the fifth while Redner, Akhil Nimmala and Damien Lariz worked through the final three innings in relief to complete the 9-3 victory for the Chargers and move them to 13-6 on the season.