Bottom top-notch
Lower part of batting order lifts Stoneman Douglas
PARKLAND — Stoneman Douglas boasts a talented lineup, including multiple Division I prospects at the top of the order.
Against Calvary Christian, though, it was the bottom of the lineup that did the bulk of the damage, putting two-thirds of Douglas’ runs on the board in a 9-3 victory in Parkland on Wednesday night.
“If we’re going to have success, the top guys can’t do it every night,” Stoneman Douglas coach Todd Fitz-Gerald said. “I’m so happy for those guys at the bottom to come in and deliver. That was huge for them to get that confidence going into the playoffs. If we go one through nine, we’re going to be pretty hard to beat.”
Stoneman Douglas’ stands were packed with fans and scouts, looking to watch two of the top teams in the nation face off.
Douglas entered the game ranked fourth in the nation by MaxPreps, while Calvary Christian was ranked 10th. Perfect Game ranked Calvary eighth and Stoneman Douglas ninth.
Calvary got off to a hot start against Douglas sophomore Christian Rodriguez. Alex Ulloa, an Oklahoma State signee, and Rene Lastres, a Florida signee, hit back-to-back solo home runs to give Calvary a quick 2-0 lead. But Rodriguez settled down and did not allow another run in five innings of work, striking out eight batters and walking five.
“I just tried to shake it off and say, ‘OK, we’ve got to get to this next one,’ ” Rodriguez said. “Obviously, a little upsetting. But I told myself, ‘You’re going to keep bumping. Keep doing what you’re doing and it’ll pay off.’ ”
Rodriguez’s opponent on the mound was Calvary starter Irv Carter, a Miami signee and likely high draft pick. Carter came out of the gate strong, striking out four of the first five batters he faced. But Stoneman Douglas’ batters started getting to Carter after their first time through the lineup. Florida commit Jake Clemente got Douglas on the board with an RBI single in the third inning, and USF signee Gavin Conticello tied the game at two with a fourth-inning double.
Douglas did more damage in the fifth inning, loading the bases with no outs. Cameron Harris got a run in on a fielder’s choice. Harris hit a ground ball to Carter, who got a force out at home, and the throw to first to turn a double play hit Harris and rolled to the fence, allowing the go-ahead run to score.
Douglas scored two more runs in the fifth on a double by Nikko Benestad, giving it a 5-2 lead.
“I told our guys before the game we were going to win the game 5-2,” Fitz-Gerald said. “They went up 2-0, and we were in a dogfight, but when we made it 5-2 ... I said, ‘What’d I tell you it was going to be?’ ”
Contrary to Fitz-Gerald’s pregame prediction, Stoneman Douglas kept scoring. It scored four more runs in the sixth inning — three on a double by Harris and one on a single by Grant McDonald.
Calvary added a late run in the seventh inning on a double by Ulloa, but Calvary could not rally to erase the seven-run deficit.
“It was big,” Rodriguez said. “It’s big for us. The energy, everything went our way. We love that. We take that motivation and keep moving forward [and] keep getting better.”