Jacksonville Trinity Christian scored three-straight runs in the top of the sixth to beat South Sumter, 4-1, in the Class 4A state baseball semifinals Monday night.
The Conquerors will play Bishop Verot for the 4A title LIVE on BHSN Channel 47/HD 1147 Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The game will also be live streamed on www.bhsnlive.com.
With the game knotted at 1-all, Trinity Christian took advantage of scoring opportunities in the top of the sixth. They went ahead 3-1 on back-to-back sacrifice fly RBI. And then Rollin Layton made it 4-1 with an RBI double to left field.
The Conquerors were hitting the ball early, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. South Sumter right fielder Deonte Grant prevented further damage in the inning when he fielded a single and made a great throw to catcher Cinto Arredondo, who tagged out a runner at the plate.
The Raider finally answered in the bottom of the second with Alan Greene's RBI single to right that tied the game 1-1.
South Sumter's defense turned it up after that, turning a double play to end the top of the third, then they retired the side in the top of the fourth, including back-to-back strikeouts from Isaiah Cullum. In the top of the fifth, South Sumter again retired the side with second baseman Trenton Upshawmaking all three outs.
The Raiders had a chance to go ahead in the bottom of the fifth with runners on first and third and one out. But Greene was picked off at third and Maurice Jones struck out.
Down to their final three outs in the bottom of the seventh, South Sumter went three up, three down.