Tampa Catholic notched a signature win on Tuesday night, upsetting No. 3 Jesuit on the road, behind the power arm of Conor Grady in a 3-1 victory.
The matchup between two future Florida State hurlers lived up to its billing, with the senior Grady outdueling Jesuit junior Jack Anderson. Grady earned Player of the Game honors for the complete game victory, limiting the Tigers to two hits and one run, while striking out eight.
Jesuit's lone run came in the bottom of the 3rd, on an RBI single from Jake Jones that scored Joel Brewer for a 1-0 Tigers lead.
Anderson cruised through the first three innings vs. the Crusaders, allowing just one hit. But he was undone by a Tigers defense that committed two errors in the top of the fourth, allowing two Tampa Catholic runs to score. The Crusaders managed only three hits off of Anderson, who struck out four in five innings of work.
The Crusaders tacked on an insurance run on another Tigers error in the top of the 7th and Grady induced a 3-up, 3-down final inning, which was capped off by a brilliant sliding catch by Cristian Docobo in foul territory down the right field line.
With district tournaments starting next week, the Crusaders (8-14) aim to move past a disappointing regular season and carry the momentum of the victory into a district quarterfinals matchup with Brooks DeBartolo. If they win, they'll face undefeated Calvary Christian, with a playoff berth on the line in the district semifinals.
Jesuit (19-6) drops their third straight game and their fifth in the last eight games after starting the season 16-1. The 6A-8 #1 seed Tigers will face the winner of Blake-Spoto in the district semifinals.
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