Archbishop McCarthy, North Broward Prep, Westminster Christian baseball teams win region titles
Archbishop McCarthy, North Broward Prep and Westminster Christian baseball teams won region championships Wednesday, advancing to respective state semifinals at CenturyLink Sports Complex - Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.
North Broward Prep baseball
North Broward Prep needed eight innings to beat Mater Lakes Academy 2-1 for a 4A region title at Broward College in Davie.
In the top of the eighth, junior Yoel Tejeda Jr. singled and moved to third on a double by senior Josh Steidl. Pinch runner Wyatt Moss, a sophomore, scored what proved to be the winning run on a passed ball.
Senior Shane Huntsberger, who pitched 1 2/3 innings of relief, allowed a hit in the bottom of the eighth but settled down for the win, sealed on a pop out to senior shortstop Jonah Diaz.
The visiting Eagles (19-10-1) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth as freshman Riley Luft scored on a RBI hit by senior Dylan Runsdorf.
In the bottom of the seventh, Mater Lakes rallied to tie the game, when sophomore Andy Hernandez’s RBI single drove in senior Carlos Delgado. The hit almost walked off the game.
Tejeda, the starting pitcher for North Broward Prep, tossed six shutout innings. In the bottom of the seventh, he ran into trouble, loading the bases with one out.
Huntsberger entered and allowed the Hernandez RBI single to left field scoring Delgado from third (run charged to Tejeda). On that bases loaded Hernandez hit, junior left fielder Clancy Marsh made a big play by throwing out the runner at home trying to score the winner from second with Runsdorf applying the tag. Huntsberger struck out the next batter to end the rally.
Tejeda Jr. went 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits, one walk and one hit batsman while striking out seven. For the Bears, starting pitcher Andrew Tano, a junior, tossed seven innings, allowing one run on seven hits and one walk while striking out two. Also, senior Nelsido Nunez went 2 for 3.
The district and region champion Eagles play Dunedin (18-11) in a 4A state semifinal on May 24.
Dunedin, a district champ, beat visiting (Cape Coral) Mariner 6-3 in a region final.
Mater Lakes, a district champ, finished 22-8.
Westminster Christian baseball
Hialeah Educational Academy’s Cinderella postseason run came to a close against Westminster Christian.
The host Warriors won a 3A region title by defeating Hialeah Educational 16-1.
Westminster Christian (22-7) exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the second to go ahead 10-1 and never looked back. They added six runs to end the game in the bottom of the fourth.
Winning pitcher Joel Pinero, a senior, tossed four innings, allowing one run, three hits, one walk, while striking out 10.
Junior Rene Ramirez was 2 for 4 with a triple, a home run, two runs and four RBI, and senior Jayden Melendez went 2 for 4 with a home run, a run and four RBI. Junior Sal Stewart was 1 for 3 with a walk, two runs and an RBI.
Senior Luis Mejia was 1 for 1 with a walk, two runs and an RBI. Senior Raenire Benitez was 1 for 1 with a double, two walks, three runs and an RBI. Sophomore Jake Suarez added two walks, a hit and two runs, and juniors Christian Bosque and Allan Jorge each scored and drove in one. Senior Sebastian Gonzalez and junior D’Angelo Ortiz also scored.
Victor Sanchez continued his power hitting surge in the playoffs with a solo home run in the second, the lone run for Hialeah Educational.
Westminster Christian, a district and region champ, plays (Fort Pierce) John Carroll (18-10) in a 3A state semifinal on May 24.
John Carroll, a district champ, held on to edge visiting (Boca Raton) St. John Paul II Academy 2-1 in a region final.
Hialeah Educational, a district runner-up, went 10-19-1 this season, upsetting Calvary Christian and Coral Springs Charter in the postseason.
Archbishop McCarthy baseball
Archbishop McCarthy defeated (Melbourne) Eau Galle 9-2 for a 5A region title.
The host Mavericks erupted early, scoring five times in the bottom of the first. Eau Galle plated two runs in the third, but Archbishop McCarthy answered with one more in the fourth and three more in the fifth.
Sophomore Andrew Ildefonso was 3 for 4 with a run and three RBI. Sophomore Antonio Jimenez went 2 for 3 with two walks, two runs and an RBI. Sophomore Zaid Diaz went 2 for 3 with a double, a walk, a run and an RBI, and senior Adrian Vega was 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI.
Sophomore Ryan Hunter doubled and scored twice. Seniors Jake Alfaro and Jack Cue each had a hit, a run and an RBI. Cue also walked. Senior Stefano Molaro collected a hit, a walk and an RBI, and junior Max Loyello scored.
Vega pitched 5.1 innings for the win. He allowed two runs (one earned) on eight hits and two walks, while striking out eight. Alfaro pitched one inning, striking out three.
Archbishop McCarthy (20-8-2) won a district title and a region title this season en route to the state final four. The Mavericks play (Naples) Barron Collier (21-10) in a 5A state semifinal on May 25.
Barron Collier, a district champ, rallied with three runs in the seventh to edge visiting Osceola 3-2 in a region final.
Eau Galle, a district runner-up, ended its season 21-6.
All-County honors & virtual awards
The Miami Herald is releasing the All-County teams for spring sports on Monday online and Wednesday in print.
The virtual awards ceremony is Wednesday at 6 p.m. on the Miami Herald’s YouTube, Facebook pages and the sports home page.
Submit summer sports results
For summer sports with high school athletes in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, if you have results and stats for this column, email hssports@miamiherald.com.
For club teams and individuals, include the high school(s) of the student athlete(s).
This is open to participants in summer sports leagues, events and tournaments who are current high school athletes, those who graduated in 2021 and those who will be freshmen in the fall.
Email hssports@miamiherald.com.
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Roundup compiled by Jim Varsallone
jvarsallone@miamiherald.com
This story was originally published May 20, 2021 at 11:29 PM.
