District baseball: Jupiter Christian earns third shot at Trinity Christian

This hasn’t been a perfect season for Jupiter Christian, nor has it been perfect for senior southpaw pitcher Liam Schulz.

But the stars aligned for the Eagles Tuesday night.

In belying their 7-11 record, partly due to a powerful schedule, Jupiter Christian edged Boca Christian 4-2 to advance to the District final against Trinity Christian Thursday at Santaluces High.

Schulz sparked the win by giving up just one run, two hits with 10 strikeouts in five innings as Jupiter Christian moved its modest record to 8-11.

But Jupiter Christian could just be getting started.

“The record does not reflect us at all," Jupiter Christian second baseman AJ Seymour said. “All of us can do the job and can be amazing players. We need to turn it on. Sometimes we’ve been inconsistent. If we all get hot, it’s going to be a great year."

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Seymour, whose father, Andrew, is GM of the Class A Palm Beach Cardinals, walked three times, using his speed to score two runs, scoring the team’s first and last.

In the fifth inning, Seymour, who is committed to Rollins College, led off with a walk and scored with the next batter, Ben Dulin, still standing at the plate. Seymour went from first to third on a passed ball and scored when a pitch went into the dirt and skidded from the catcher.

In the first inning, Seymour drew a two-out walk, stole third base and kept coming in after the third baseman mishandled the throw.

Seymour’s run in the fifth proved a key insurance piece.

“He took advantage of the big backstop going from first to third," coach Ray White said. “I told them to be aware of it and I’m glad he took advantage of it."

Seymour was a bat boy last season during spring training for the St. Louis Cardinals so he knows the big stage after mingling with major leaguers.

With Dulin hitting a two-run single in the third to give Jupiter Christian a 3-0 lead, that was all Schulz needed. Schulz came out after five due to a pitch-count rule but he admits he could’ve gone longer after silencing a vaunted Boca Christian lineup that featured .400-plus hitters Nate Walters, Ryan Horn and Bryan Santalucia.

“He showed his true potential today," White said of Schulz. “He came out, did what he did. All season he’s been 50-50. He showed what he’s capable of doing."

Committed to Florida Southwestern in Fort Myers, Schulz had Boca Christian hitters swinging at curves in the dirt.

“My game plan was dominate with my fastball but I had command issues in the first inning so being able to spin the curve ball and get the change-up to get swings and misses was really huge for me," Schulz said.

Indeed, Schulz got out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, giving up two walks and an infield single. He wound up striking out the side without allowing a run.

“I was happy how I and the team performed," Schulz said. “We’ve been hitting a little better recently, but to be able to put balls in play and make them make errors is something that helped us win today."

Reliever James Weisman closed it out with two good innings in which he allowed just one run. His lone hit was a leadoff double in the sixth inning against his first batter, Chase Hamlett, who scored on an infield out to make it 4-2.

Boca Christian ended its prosperous season with a 14-8 record — the first winning clip since 2010. Starting pitcher Walters had a decent outing — going four innings, allowing three runs but didn’t have the fielding behind him.

Jupiter Christian, which won the district championship in 2021, keeps playing. Its strength of schedule rated at 11.9, comparable to the highest-ranked teams in Palm Beach County.

But its next opponent in Trinity is a club that swept them this season, 6-3 and 1-0.

“They got us two times," White said. “It will be a good match. Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: District baseball: Jupiter Christian earns third shot at Trinity Christian