Delays, errors cost North Broward Prep’s baseball team a chance at a ‘three-peat’
The feeling was new.
For nearly three years, the bulk of North Broward Prep’s baseball roster had not experienced defeat at the state finals.
The reality that they would not be winning another state championship hit the Eagles swiftly following a grueling 9-3 loss to Clearwater Calvary Christian on Saturday night at Hammond Stadium in the Class 3A final.
North Broward Prep (26-5), resilient as always, endured a two-hour lightning delay after four innings before rallying to tie the game at 2 in the fifth.
But with their pitching staff taxed and starter Mateo Gray’s pitch count rising after he returned to the mound following the delay, the Eagles saw their bid to become only the second Broward County team to ever win three consecutive state titles slip away.
“Mateo wanted the ball and I’m super proud of the grit and fight he showed coming back after the delay,” North Broward Prep coach Brian Campbell said. “He said I’m not coming out. I know his conditioning and I know he bounces back fast.”
The Eagles trailed 1-0 after four innings when the lightning detector at the stadium was set off by inclement weather near the stadium.
Although it never rained, the teams waited for two hours - even warming up once before another lightning strike continued the delay until finally resuming.
After the Warriors (28-4), who won their third state title (all since 2017), tacked on another run in the top of the fifth, North Broward Prep responded by scoring two in the bottom half.
The Eagles sent eight batters to the plate and scored after Calvary reliever Justin Mayes issued three consecutive walks and Grayson Gibson forced in a run by walking Mauricio Bejarano.
Calvary Christian chose to go to the bullpen after the delay and not bring back starter Landen Maroudis, a potential high MLB draft pick and N.C. State signee who allowed three hits over four scoreless innings before the game was halted.
Gray, a UCF signee, tied the game on a sacrifice fly moments after returning to the mound for the top of the fifth. But North Broward Prep missed a chance to take the lead, leaving the bases loaded when Nathaneal Coupet struck out against Gibson.
Gray, who threw 72 pitches in 4 ⅔ innings in the Eagles’ regional final win over Montverde Academy in the regional final Tuesday, threw 45 pitches before the delay. Gray did not have the same effectiveness when he came back to the mound.
Maroudis then made his big contribution at the plate, belting a solo home run to left field to put Calvary ahead for good and spark a four-run sixth that was aided by two costly Eagles errors including an errant pickoff attempt to first by Gray that allowed two more runs to score later in the inning.
“It was hard with the constant delays where I warmed up, delay again, warmed up, delay again,” said Gray, who threw 106 pitches overall. “I just didn’t have my stuff coming back out and that’s all I can say.”
The Eagles, who pulled one of the most remarkable comebacks in recent memory at state a day earlier when they scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh after breaking up a no-hitter against Gulliver, cut the deficit to 6-3 in the bottom of the sixth on a double by T.J. Gramesty and a single by Nik Koorse.
Campbell replaced Gray with Nate Hernandez after the former allowed a one-out walk to Keeton Burroughs and a single to Maroudis. Calvary Christian scored three more runs to put the game away against Hernandez on a single by Liam Peterson and a double by Blake Opie.
“Tough lineup over there for sure,” Campbell said. “Their starting pitcher was really good and the lefty (reliever) was good and they were one of the toughest teams we faced all season.”
North Broward Prep loses seven seniors but only two members of its starting lineup - Bejarano and Coupet - and expects to return its entire starting rotation, giving the Eagles confidence they will be back in contention next season.
“We shouldn’t define this team by one game,” Campbell said. “It’s the work they put in all year. Hopefully, they remember this. I will for sure. Being on this side of it ain’t fun. Hopefully that motivates us to do more.”
