Sophomore’s poise on the mound leads American Heritage to state baseball final
Talan Holiday turned 17 last week.
The timing of his birthday turned out to be fortuitous for American Heritage’s sophomore pitcher and the Patriots on Monday afternoon toward the end of their Class 5A state semifinal at Hammond Stadium.
With his pitch count rising and in a jam in the bottom of the sixth, Holiday would have exceeded the 95-pitch limit for 16-year-olds before last week and would have had to leave the game.
But with the limit for 17-year-olds at 105, Holiday had enough to get through the inning and preserve a one-run Heritage lead.
The Patriots added some insurance in the seventh and then freshman Spencer Krasner recorded the final two outs after Holiday exited, sealing a 5-2 win over Lake City Columbia.
“I hate having a kid throw over 100 but you’re trying to save all the arms you can for Wednesday and the fact that the young lefty came in and threw just a handful is good so he’s ready,” Heritage coach Mike Macey said.
American Heritage (20-6) advanced to its first state final since winning its second state title in 2012 and will take on Tampa Jesuit, which is seeking back-to-back championships and its seventh overall, on Wednesday at 11 a.m.
“It’s been a while. We’re right back where we belong and the Heritage brand is back where we need to be,” Macey said. “These kids have come together as a family. Outside of these 22, no one expected this, but we did. We knew what we had and these kids are growing in confidence.”
Holiday threw 106 pitches overall over 6 ⅓ innings, striking out nine and allowing only one earned run on four hits and one walk. With one out and a runner at first, Krasner induced the Tigers to hit into a game-ending double play and threw only seven pitches. Krasner is now lined up to start Wednesday’s final.
“We’ve seen it all year with Talan. He doesn’t pitch like a sophomore,” Macey said. “I’ve never seen composure like this for a kid his age. He’s wired for this moment. I had no doubt he’d go out and do what he did and he didn’t even have his best stuff.”
Heritage, who entered regionals as the No. 2 seed and knocked out top-seed and rival Archbishop McCarthy to get to state, won its seventh consecutive game and scored three runs off Columbia starter Josh Fernald, who had allowed only one earned run the entire season entering the game.
Macey praised Serna’s adjustments during his at-bats this postseason.
“We had to shock them from the first inning,” Serna said. “They haven’t faced hitters like us. When we did, the momentum was all ours after that.”
Tied at 1 in the fifth, Mateo Serna continued his hot hitting this postseason with a one-out, two-run single to score Chris Levy and Jordan Rich.
Columbia capitalized on a throwing error by shortstop and FSU commit Spencer Butt that put runners on second and third in the bottom of the sixth. After plating a run on a fielder’s choice, Holiday came up with a huge strikeout of Camdon Frier to end the frame.
The Patriots then played some small ball and used their speed to create havoc on the bases in the seventh. Levy reached on a bunt single and Rich dropped a bunt, which ended up being more than a sacrifice once Braydon Thomas’ throw ended up in foul ground up the right field line. Levy scored on the play and Rich came around to score on a sac fly by Butt.
“It’s what we’ve become. There’s no selfishness and no ego on this team,” Macey said. “It’s, ‘If I have to lay a bunt down, I’m going to do that.’ It’s who we are and we’ve embraced it.”
