Five Broward County baseball powers aim for state championships in 2023
Only two Florida high school baseball programs own active state-title win streaks — and both are from Broward County.
Stoneman Douglas has won two straight state championships in Class
7A. North Broward Prep has also won two straight, taking the 4A trophy in 2021 and the 3A crown last year.
With a title in 2023, Douglas would become the first Broward public school to take state three straight years.
Together with reports on American Heritage, St. Thomas Aquinas and Archbishop McCarthy, here’s an extended look at five of Broward’s power programs:
Douglas finished last season 30-2, and both of its losses were by one run. Besides state, the Eagles also won the National High School Invitational with four straight victories. Douglas also beat North Broward Prep, 3-2.
Baseball America voted Douglas the No. 1 team in the nation following last season. Perfect Game had the Eagles ranked second.
The Eagles graduated eight seniors from last season, including three superstars: right-hander Jake Clemente, center fielder Roman Anthony and left-hander Chris Arroyo. They helped the Eagles go 58-4 over the past two years.
Clemente, now a Gators freshman, went 10-0 last year. Over 60 games in his career as a batter, he hit .311 with nine homers, 58 RBI and 13 steals in 13 attempts.
Outfielder Roman Anthony earned a $2.5 million bonus to sign with the Red Sox, who drafted him in the second round. He hit .520 with 21 steals and 10 homers last year.
Arroyo, Clemente’s teammate on the Gators, went 19-1 with a 0.99 ERA over the past two years.
However, the Eagles still have loads of talent returning, including 10 players who have committed to Division I colleges.
At the top of the list is right-hander Christian Rodriguez, a Gators recruit who is 18-1 with a 1.48 ERA in his prep career. He is also a middleorder hitter.
The rest of the Douglas pitching staff includes senior left-hander Matt Ossenfort (Vanderbilt), junior right-hander Jayden Dubanweicz (Florida), senior left-hander Jacob
Gomberg (Florida) and junior right-hander Gavin Gargiulo (UCF).
Other Douglas standouts include junior catcher Niko Benestad (USF), junior shortstop Devin Fitz-Gerald (North Carolina State), junior third baseman Rylan Lujo (Dayton), junior center fielder Alex Rodriguez (UCF) and senior right fielder Dillon Moquin (Appalachian State). Ossenfort will also double as a first baseman.
“We look good on paper,” said Douglas coach Todd Fitz-Gerald, who is the father of the Eagles shortstop. “We have speed at the top of the order and power in the middle. Plus, our pitching and defense will keep us in games.”
North Broward Prep finished 23-9 last season, winning its final eight games. Their final three wins were by a total of just five runs.
However, the Eagles graduated top starter and power hitter Yoel Tejeda (Florida recruit) and reliever/shortstop Jonathan Xuereb (Appalachian State), who closed out the state semifinal and state championship games.
“Replacing Yoel will be especially difficult,” Eagles coach Brian Campbell said. “‘Playoff Yoel’ was special.”
Fortunately for the Eagles, they return seven starters.
Among the top returners are a pair of switch-hitters: senior second baseman Mauricio Bejarano (Eastern Kentucky) and junior third baseman Gian De Castro (Memphis).
On the mound, the Eagles have juniors Ryan McPherson (Mississippi State) and Riley Luft (Appalachian State). Luft also plays the outfield and infield.
Other Eagles standouts include senior catcher/ outfielder Nathaneal Coupet (Georgia Tech), senior outfielder Andrew Cutler (George Washington), junior first baseman Nikolas Koorse, junior catcher TJ Granesty (Florida Atlantic), junior shortstop Mateo Gray (UCF) and senior right-hander Dilan Radtke (Bucknell).
“We can be strong offensively and defensively,” Campbell said. “We know what it takes to win championships. We’ll see how deep our pitching is this season.”
American Heritage went 26-2 last season, with the losses by a total of just three runs, including a 4-2 defeat to Naples in the Class 5A regional finals.
“We had gotten the timely hit all year,” Heritage coach Mike Macey said. “But in that game we had second and third, no out, and we struck out three straight times. We had bases loaded, one out, and we hit a rocket that becomes a double play.”
During the season, the Patriots beat eventual state champion Doral 11-1 in what Macey called the most complete game his team played all year. Heritage also beat eventual state champ Miami Christian 9-8 in a game that the Patriots trailed 7-0.
This season, the Patriots will have to replace their top five pitchers and their
two best hitters. The list of departed players includes pitcher Brandon Barriera, who was Toronto’s firstround pick. The other pitchers Heritage lost were Erik Blair (Florida), Brandon Gonsalves
(UCF), Evan Dobias (Virginia) and Quin Spalding (Gardner-Webb). Blair, listed as an outfielder at Florida, is one of the top hitters Heritage lost, along with Ray Bermudez (Polk State).
Leading the way this year for Heritage is senior shortstop Spencer Butt, a Florida State recruit who bats leadoff after hitting nearly .400 last season.
Senior catcher Mateo Serna is a switch-hitter with power from both sides.
Junior Lucas Ramirez is a strong-armed right fielder with lefty power. The son of MLB legend Manny Ramirez, he is a Tennessee recruit.
Leading the pitching staff is freshman lefty Spencer Krasner, who is already a Virginia recruit. Despite his youth, he knows how to pitch.
Senior Daniel Gregory (Dayton) and lefty Kyle Rostock (Barry) round out the rotation.
St. Thomas Aquinas finished 21-7 last season. The Raiders had a 12game win streak snapped by Palm Beach Dwyer, 7-3, in the Class 6A regional semifinals.
The Raiders graduated 20 seniors from that team, but coach Joey Wardlow believes he has a 2023 squad built on pitching and defense.
“We have an aggressive team,” Wardlow said. “Our hitting will come.”
The pitching staff is led by junior right-hander
Anthony Ciscar, a Hurricanes recruit. Battling for the second spot in the rotation are senior righthander Noah Greenside (Notre Dame) and senior lefty Pavlos Piperakis (Troy). Lefty Nico Ratel, who has committed to St. Thomas University, is a reliever to watch.
Offensively, the Raiders are led by sophomore shortstop RJ Machado (Florida State), junior center fielder Christian Hamilton (Miami) and second baseman AJ Groeneveld (Eastern Kentucky).
Archbishop McCarthy, the most prolific program in Broward history with seven state titles, hasn’t held the big trophy since 2017.
The Mavericks finished just 14-13 last season, losing in the regional quarterfinals, 3-2, to Barron Collier.
“We underachieved,” McCarthy coach Aaron Vorachek said.
Looking ahead to the upcoming season, Vorachek, who coached on three Division I staffs, said shortstop Antonio Jimenez (Miami) and third baseman Justin Lebron (Alabama) are as talented as any players he’s ever had on one of his rosters.
Jimenez could be a first-rounder, and Lebron appears likely to go in the top three rounds with a higher upside, Vorachek said.
Mavericks sophomore second baseman Danny Machado (Florida Atlantic) is a switch-hitter who bats in the middle of the order. He has gap power.
Senior outfielder Ryan Hunter (Memphis) and junior catcher Greg Caban (Eastern Kentucky) are
two other Division I recruits in the lineup.
Overall, the Mavericks return all but one starter from last season. They will start seven seniors, one junior and one sophomore — a roster construction that could lead to more McCarthy glory.
On the mound, the Mavericks lack a mid-90s arm, but they have pitchers who reach 88-91 mph.
Andrew Ildefonso, one of 20 seniors on the roster, was the 5A Florida Player of the Year as a sophomore. He is an FIU recruit.
“He went 10-1 and was unhittable as a sophomore, but he had control issues last year,” Vorachek said. “He’s looked good again this year.”
Senior Nico GutierrezVilla, the Mavericks’ MVP last season, is a Palm Beach State recruit.
Ildefonso and GutierrezVilla are also middle-order hitters. Senior Connor McShane, a likely Florida State recruit, has a filthy slider and also looks good.
“We will defend and hit,” Vorachek said. “If we get consistent pitching, we can win state.”
THIS AND THAT
Senior shortstop Mika Vasquez leads Cardinal Gibbons, which reached the regional semifinals last year, finishing 18-10. Senior lefty Cole Cozzolino, a pitcher to watch, threw a complete-game 3-2 victory over St. Brendan in last year’s regionalquarterfinal round.
South Broward, which went 6-15 last season, is deeper on the mound this year, led by sophomore Thomas Giltner, who also catches. He hit .441 with 15 steals last year.