Baseball: Eagles soar to district title, 5th consecutive playoff appearance

OCOEE Nick Peterson pitched a complete game, helping to lead the CFCA Eagles to a 5-2 win over Master’s Academy (Vero Beach) in the Class 2A, District 4 Championship April 22.

With the win, the Eagles (17-6-1) earned their fifth consecutive playoff appearance and the program’s first district title since 2013.

“It’s pretty impressive because it’s an eight-team district with a lot of tough teams,” head coach Larry Oldham said. “I’m really proud of these guys. We just kept scrapping and, by the grace of God, it all worked out.”

CFCA entered the tournament as its No. 2 seed and seemed destined for a rubber-match against the district’s top seed, Orlando Christian Prep. Master’s Academy had other plans, though, upsetting OCP to prevent the Eagles and Warriors from meeting a third time after splitting their regular season meetings.

CFCA also defeated Geneva (11-1, April 18) and City of Life Christian (8-3, April 19) en route to the championship game. The tournament was hosted on campus in Ocoee.

The Eagles will now face former district rival Trinity Christian (17-11) of Deltona. The Class 2A Regional Semifinal will take place at CFCA at 4 p.m. April 28.

If victorious, the Eagles will advance to play the winner between Master’s Academy and St. John Lutheran (Ocala). That Class 2A Regional Championship contest will take place May 3.

For a veteran coach like Oldham, the sweetest part of his team’s district title victory is that it did so with a relatively young and inexperienced roster that has improved drastically over the season.

It begs the question: what element of the Eagles’ game has improved the most?

“Absolutely the defense,” Oldham said. “At times, it was a little rickety but it has shored itself up quite a bit. And the offense, (each hitter) one-through-nine now, is a competitor.”

Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].