Despite abrupt coaching change, Gulliver baseball marches on to state final four
Eight years is a long time between dog piles.
It had been that long since the Gulliver Prep baseball team got to storm the field in celebration.
That drought ended Tuesday evening following a gutsy 2-0 upset victory over No. 2 seeded Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian in a Region 4-3A final at Calvary Christian.
The win sends the Raiders (19-10) to the Class 3A state semifinals where they will match up against two-time defending state champ Coconut Creek North Broward Prep in a Miami-Dade vs. Broward County matchup on Friday at 1 p.m. at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.
Making the win even more remarkable for Gulliver was that it came on the heels of a startling turn of events two days earlier when it was learned that head coach Omar Borges, just three days after a huge 4-2 upset of No. 1 seed Westminster Christian, had been let go.
Thrust into a role he wasn’t expecting, assistant coach Isaac Tijerino was named the interim coach and tried settling down a group of players who were about to play their biggest game of the season.
“I found out Sunday night and yes it was a shock but I just had to do whatever was necessary for these boys,” said Tijerino, who declined to specify the reason for Borges’ dismissal. “I notified them by text Sunday night, told them, hey guys don’t worry about, we’re going to work hard, this is your team and the rest of the coaching staff is going to be here to support you and motivate you even through these rough times that we had. They came in Monday and went to work and I can’t be more proud of them for what they went out and did today.”
Gulliver did it thanks mainly to a gutsy effort by starting pitcher Luca Mendez who threw six strong innings, giving up just three hits and striking out four. He also helped himself out in a big way when, with the game still scoreless in the top of the sixth (thanks to an equally strong outing by Calvary starter Brandon Rosenthal), Mendez drove one to the fence in the left field corner for a standup double leaving runners on second and third and only one out.
Freshman Jacob Lombard then came through with a bloop single to right scoring A.J. Argudin from third. Mendez stopped at third but then scored one batter later when he tagged up and trotted home when Jason Marcos launched a deep fly ball to center for the second out.
Mendez had all the runs he needed. After recording three more outs in the sixth, he turned things over to reliever Luca Tosca who recorded the final three outs to record the save.
“It was just a matter of zoning in, throwing strikes, letting my defense take care of things in the field and blocking out any outside noise and stay focused,” said Mendez a senior and University of New Orleans commit. “I gave it everything I had because that’s the kind of team we are – determined.”
As far as the sudden disruption of the coaching change, Mendez said the team never wavered.
“That’s the type of team we are,” Mendez said. “We don’t care what obstacles are thrown in our way, we take a lot of pride in blocking out all the outside noise and distractions and staying focused and the way we looked at it, losing our coach was just one more obstacle to overcome. Coach Isaac did a great job.”
Lombard, the younger brother of shortstop George Lombard, finished his day 1-for-3 with the RBI.
“It was a little bit of a surprise for some of us but we just went out to practice on Monday and just stayed determined to stay focused,” said Jacob Lombard on the sudden news of the coaching change. “Today was a big challenge because it was another good team on the road again like Westminster. It’s all about trust in each other and what we think we can do. If we stay true to that belief they can put any team in front of us and we have a chance of beating them.”
▪ Region 3-3A final - North Broward Prep 4, Montverde Academy 1: The Eagles (25-4) will head back to state for the third consecutive season trying to join Archbishop McCarthy as the only other Broward program to win three consecutive state titles. Stoneman Douglas, which also qualified for state on Tuesday, is aiming for a third consecutive state title this season.
Riley Luft led North Broward Prep going 2 for 3 with a home run, a double and two RBI and Mateo Gray went 2 for 2 with a double and an RBI. The two also led the Eagles on the mound, combining to allow only one unearned run. Gray pitched 4 2/3 innings, struck out seven and allowed four hits while Luft struck out four, walked two and allowed one hit over 2 1/3 innings. Nathaneal Coupet went 1 for 3 with an RBI.