Baseball Crusaders Top Berkeley Prep with Walk-Off, Three-Run Homer

They don’t act like freshmen, and they certainly don’t play like freshmen.

Only their birth certificates give away that Tampa Catholic baseball players Joe Burruezo and Paulie Russo are in their first year of high school.

They hammered that fact home again Tuesday to visiting Berkeley Prep, spearheading a five-run game-winning rally in the seventh inning leading Tampa Catholic to a thrilling 6-4 victory.

Russo had the big blow, a walk-off three-run pinch hit homer to win the game. But Burruezo also contributed a key pinch hit, stroking a 3-2 pitch into left field for a two-run single that cut Berkeley’s lead to 4-3. Russo, batting left-handed, followed with a no doubt blast over the left field fence giving the Crusaders (4-4) their third consecutive victory.

“It was fastball up and away and I just hit it where it was pitched,” Russo said of his first varsity homer.

That’s simplifying the matter, given the pressure of the situation. But Crusaders coach Pat Russo said the freshman duo have produced in the clutch for years at every level they’ve played.

“The other kids on the team voted those two on the team because they know they can play,” Russo said, smiling. “They live for the big moments like that.”

Earlier in the game it didn’t appear to be the Crusaders’ day, with four errors contributing to Berkeley (5-3) taking a 4-1 lead into the seventh. Sophomore Nick Eicholtz had a key run scoring hit in the sixth inning to build a 3-1 lead, and the fourth run scored in the top of the seventh on the front end of a double steal.

Sophomore right-hander Trent Thompson had throttled the Crusaders through six innings, but Buccaneers coach Justin Houston had seen enough.

“Trent threw a great game, but he was at a pitch count where it was the right move to take him out,” Houston said.

Freshman right-hander Dante Bosnic tried to nail things down. But Nico Millan and Cam Alford, who homered earlier, singled to left, and Matt Darrigo was hit in the leg with a pitch loading the bases. Burruezo and Russo performed their heroics, and within five batters the game was gone.

“How are you going to respond to adversity?” Houston asked his team. “We won a great game the other night and we didn’t dwell on it. We lost a great game tonight and we’re not going to dwell on it. It was a tough loss but you move on.”

Another key in the victory for TC was the pitching of Derek Martin, who worked five innings in relief of starter Nick Sucarichi, allowing one run on two hits. Nick Perez also contributed two singles.  

Playing the fourth toughest schedule in the state, according to MaxPreps, Tampa Catholic’s record doesn’t indicate how well its played, Russo said. However, a lack of clutch hitting has been the issue.

“We could have won all our games, but we’ve left 11 or 12 guys in scoring position in each of our losses,” Russo said. “We’re playing tough teams each time out and trying to play as many kids as possible because that helps you later on in the season.”