Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Surging Stoneman Douglas on verge of greatness
PARKLAND — Todd Fitz-Gerald has coached his share of stellar high school baseball teams.
He won a state and national title with American Heritage in 2008 with a team that featured future Major Leaguers like Nick Castellanos, Eric Hosmer, Deven Marrero and Adrián Nieto. He won a second state championship with Stoneman Douglas in 2016, and that team included Oakland A’s pitcher Jesús Luzardo and Colorado Rockies prospect Colton Welker.
His current Eagles squad rivals those two, in his mind.
“Since I’ve been here, this is my favorite team since 2016,” Fitz-Gerald said. “My 2008 team will always be my all-time favorite, special team. These guys are pretty close . ... and the good thing is we get 90 percent of them back next year.”
Douglas is loaded with top-tier talent this season, and it’s showing on the field. With their win over American Heritage-Delray on Tuesday, the Eagles have won 20 games this season and 15 in a row. They are ranked fourth in the nation by MaxPreps and 11th by Perfect Game.
“Those are alright, but we just want the next [team],” pitcher Chris Arroyo said. “We don’t want to rely on those 15 wins. Right now, we’re great, but we’ll be better. We’ll get better every day.”
The Eagles’ success starts with Arroyo and his fellow pitchers. Douglas’ pitching staff had a combined 1.40 ERA. Arroyo, a junior Florida International commit, leads the team in innings pitched and has a 0.59 ERA, striking out 57 batters in 35 ⅔ innings. Right behind Arroyo is sophomore Christian Rodriguez, who has a 0.41 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 34 ⅓ innings pitched.
“We just try to be better than the other one,” Arroyo said. “He tries to be better than me when he goes out there, and I try to be better than him. And we learn from each other. We’ve got each other’s back when we’re in the dugout.”
The offense hasn’t slouched, either. Stoneman Douglas is averaging 8.4 runs per game and has a lineup loaded with Division I prospects.
Center fielder Roman Anthony, a junior Ole Miss commit, leads the team with a .462 batting average, five home runs and a 1.424 OPS. Right behind him are catcher Santiago Ordonez, a junior FSU commit with a .397 batting average and a 1.065 OPS, two-way Florida commit Jake Clemente (.375 batting average and 1.200 OPS with four home runs) and senior USF signee and infielder Gavin Conticello (.385 batting average and a 1.036 OPS).
“It’s just a pass-it-to-the-next guy mentality because every guy behind you is just as good as you are,” Anthony said.
The Eagles end their season with two games that will help them prepare for postseason competition. They face Calvary Christian, another nationally ranked team, and then Miami Westminster Christian to close out the season. Then, Douglas’ bid for the program’s second state title begins.
“We’ve got the makings of a pretty complete team,” Fitz-Gerald said. “We’ve got some speed, got some power, obviously can pitch and play defense. So just one (game) at a time.”