Douglas, Cardinal Gibbons take different paths to BCAA baseball titles

The BCAA Championship baseball tournament provided an early test for three-time defending national champions, Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

The Eagles once again passed with flying colors.

Niko Benestad belted two home runs and drove in three runs to power Stoneman Douglas to a 12-0 run-rule victory over West Broward in the Tier 1 bracket of the BCAA tournament at Nova High School.

The Eagles (5-0) closed the game out in five innings, and scored in each of the four innings they had an at-bat.

Benestad finished with three hits.

“I said at the beginning of the year that he was going to have a monster year,” Douglas coach Todd Fitz-Gerald said of Benestad. “He works hard, and he’s always been a really good hitter. He’s going to continue to do that, because that’s what he’s done his whole life. I couldn’t be happier for him.”

The game was delayed for about 20 minutes before Benestad was set to lead off the fourth inning. Once play resumed, the University of South Florida commit got the action going with a no-doubt home run to left center.

In the first inning, Benestad belted a two-run homer to left.

As no surprise, Benestad was recognized by the BCAA tournament committee as the championship game MVP.

“We’ve been working on swinging it, and seeing the ball up,” Benestad said. “Passing the baton and hitting the ball hard whenever you can, and just play as a team.”

Right-hander Jayden Dubanewicz made the start, and tossed three scoreless innings, striking out two while issuing four hits.

The Florida commit has been eased back into action after dealing with some minor arm discomfort.

“It was good to have Dubie back out there because didn’t get to throw last week,” Fitz-Gerald said. “I wanted to run him out there for four, at least. But sitting for that long period of time, I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

Luke Cherry tossed 1 2⁄3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out three. The final out was recorded by sidearm right-hander Christian Milliken, who logged a strikeout against the only batter he faced.

Seven Douglas players collected RBIs. The others were Devin Fitz-Gerald, Alex Rodriguez, Bennett Gary, Gavin Cargiulo, Jake Rizzo and Drew Freeman.

“Just being able to try to get as many guys in the game as I could,” FitzGerald said. “I tried to.

You want to make everybody feel important on the team, because they are. The more guys you can get into a game like this, the better it is. And you keep your starters from getting injured, maybe. But the other guys work just as hard, and they deserve opportunities, too.”

In their three wins during the tournament, the Eagles outscored their opponents, 24-1.

Now 5-0, the Eagles extended their winning streak to 56 straight games.

For West Broward, Friday’s performance was disappointing, largely because they committed three errors that enabled the Eagles to take a 4-0 lead after two innings.

Manuel Sarcos had two hits for the Bobcats (4-1).

Tier 2 final — Cardinal Gibbons 7, Pembroke Pines Charter 5:

Catcher Eddie Marshall hit a home run, and finished with two hits and two RBI to lead the Chiefs (4-1-1). Jason Vazquez added two hits and a RBI and a run scored.

Right-hander Frankie Russo picked up the win, tossing four shutout innings, while allowing three hits and striking out two.

In the seventh inning, the Jaguars mounted a huge rally. Tanner Avino delivered the big blast, a three-run homer to close the deficit to two runs. Alejandro Puig had two hits, including a single that got the rally going in the last inning.