West Broward walks off Columbus in regional semis
Pressure? What pressure?
The West Broward baseball team has shown throughout this season it can handle being in the tightest of spots.
But Friday afternoon, the stakes were much higher.
Just moments earlier, the Bobcats surrendered three runs to Miami Columbus and were down to their final three outs facing that much of a deficit.
Still, there was no panic in the West Broward dugout.
And after four clutch hits and a speedy effort by senior shortstop Alejandro Sardinas to beat out a double play on a fielder’s choice tied the game at 6, it was up to sophomore third baseman Isaiah Del Valle to complete the comeback.
Del Valle delivered, looping a ball to left center field that dropped and allowed courtesy runner Michael Manocchio to score and lift host West Broward to a thrilling 7-6 walk-off victory over Columbus in a Region 4-7A semifinal.
West Broward (23-5-1) advanced to its first regional final since 2012 and second in program history. The Bobcats now face another major challenge as they will travel to Parkland to take on three-time reigning state and national champion Douglas (23-5) at 6 p.m. Monday in the regional final.
The Bobcats have played in 11 games decided by one run this season and four more decided by two runs. With Friday’s win, West Broward improved to 9-1 this season in one-run games.
Columbus (20-7) returned its full roster three days after having 18 players suspended for its 3-2 win over Western in the regional quarterfinals. The suspensions levied by the FHSAA stemmed from an on-field confrontation between the Explorers and Braddock where several players left the dugout following a collision at home plate in their district championship game the week before.
The Explorers rallied from an early 3-0 deficit with three runs in the fifth and took the lead in the top of the seventh when Franklin Francisco belted a two-out double down the right field line to score Zahir Barjam. Jose Correa then drove in Francisco with a single and Rene Ramirez followed with an RBI double.
But West Broward had an answer.
Ethan Lindor, Adrian Bermudez and Jason Wachs, who hit a two-run home run in the first inning, opened the seventh with consecutive singles to cut the deficit to 6-4. That prompted Columbus coach Joe Weber to replace right-hander Matthew Paez with lefty Jack Muniz, who induced a grounder to short by Sardinas. But Sardinas made it to first on a close play, setting up runners at the corners with one out. Manuel Sarcos then dropped a long fly ball just inside the left field line for a game-tying double to score courtesy runner Carlos Paneque and Sardinas.
Weber brought in righty Danny Castillo to try and shut the door. After intentionally walking Ivan Sabater to face Del Valle, he allowed the gamewinning single.
Region 4-5A semifinal
A - American Heritage 6, Mater Academy
1:
Led by junior catcher Sebastian Garavito at the plate and sophomore Spencer Krasner on the mound, the Patriots moved a step closer to a return trip to the state final four on Friday night.
American Heritage (19-10) will host neighborhood rival Archbishop McCarthy on Monday night at 7 p.m. in the regional final.
Garavito, who did not start the season as the Patriots’ regular catcher, delivered with his bat and defense.
After driving in Heritage’s first run of the game on an RBI groundout in the first, Garavito kept Mater from retaking the
lead in the top of the third when he threw out Brandon Lorenzo at second base with two outs, the game tied at 1, and Lions power hitter Yodelkis Quevedo batting.
In the first inning, Quevedo hit a towering solo homer off Krasner for what would be the only run for Mater Academy (19-9).
Then in the bottom of the third, Garavito drove in two more runs with a clutch single during what would become a five-run frame for the Patriots. Zach Wilson followed with an RBI double.
Region 4-6A semifinal - Dwyer 11, A
Southwest 4: A Southwest baseball team that had prided itself all season long on making remarkable comebacks including one three days earlier over Varela in a regional quarterfinal, finally ran into a wall on Friday night that didn’t budge.
It came in the form of a talented Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer squad.
The Panthers made the trip down south, stepped off their bus and walked on to Andre Dawson Field at Southwest like they owned it.
Dwyer blitzed Southwest pitchers early, went up 5-0 after three-and-a-half innings and then rode their two co-aces on the mound the rest of the way.
The No. 3 seeded Panthers (20-7) were actually one out away from an 11-0 victory before the No. 2 seed Eagles, scored four times thanks to a pair of struggling Dwyer closers on the mound that issued four walks and a hit batter.
“A tough night out there,” Southwest coach Mandy Pelaez said. “When you get this deep into the playoffs and reach this level of competition, you just can’t afford to fall behind the way we did. Our pitching struggled right out of the gate and things just only got worse from there. But credit Dwyer as well, they’ve got a great team that came in here tonight and really took it to us.”
— BILL DALEY
Region 4-5A semifinal - Archbishop A
McCarthy 5, Rockledge 4 (9): After the Mavericks (15-14) had two leads slip away early, a two-out double drove in the decisive run in the top of the ninth inning to propel them to the regional finals. Zach Tavarez pitched six innings, allowing three runs on two walks and four hits while striking out four. Nick Miller shut the door late with 1 ⅔ scoreless innings in relief.
Juan Cerra went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI while Danny Machado, Bryan Arrieta and Miguel Delgado each had a double and an RBI.
Region 4-7A semifinal - Stoneman
A
Douglas 14, Boca Raton 1 (5): The Eagles (23-5) nearly prompted the 15-run mercy rule after scoring all of its runs in the first two innings. Douglas will host West Broward in Monday’s regional final at 6 p.m.
Gavin Gargiulo, Brayden McClusky and Breylynn Courtney combined to allow only one run on three hits and three walks.
Erick Torres went 2 for 3 with a triple and four RBI while Bennett Gary went 2 for 3 with a double, a triple and three RBI. Devin Fitz-Gerald and Nick Diaz each had two RBI.
Region 4-6A semifinal - West Boca
A
Raton 9, South Broward 0: Daniel Wasserman had a double and Cristian Brennan had a single to account for the Bulldogs’ only two hits in the lopsided loss in South Broward’s first regional semifinal appearance. The Bulldogs finished 16-12-1.