South Broward upsets Doral Academy for first regional baseball playoff win ever
The South Broward baseball program has a long history of making it to the dance…and leaving early.
Dating back to 1951, the Bulldogs had made the regional playoffs 18 times without ever advancing beyond that point.
First-year South Broward coach Antonino Schembari experienced a few of those disappointing endings to seasons himself as a graduate of the school in 2018.
But things changed in a massive way on Tuesday night on the Bulldogs’ home field.
Fresh off winning the school’s first district title since 2010 last week, South Broward shocked top-seeded Doral Academy 8-6 to end the school’s long regional playoff drought.
The Bulldogs (16-10-1) will play in the regional semifinals for the first time this Friday when it travels to face West Boca Raton at 7 p.m.
“In year 1 of my time as head coach to get the guys to buy in like this, it’s crazy,” said Schembari, who served as an assistant coach the past two seasons before becoming head coach this year.
With South Broward winning its district and Doral losing last week in its own district final to Southwest, the Bulldogs earned the right to host a rematch despite being the No. 8 seed and Doral being the top seed.
Still, the Bulldogs lost 12-0 to Doral at home on April 9.
It was a completely different story on Tuesday night as South Broward erased an early 2-1 deficit with four runs in the third inning and three more in the fourth to take an 8-2 lead it would carry into the sixth inning.
Thomas Giltner led the Bulldogs going 2 for 4 with a home run and four RBI while Cristian Brennan went 2 for 2 with two runs scored. Keniel Marrero also went 2 for 4 with a 2-run home run and Dante Hernandez went 2 for 4 with a run scored.
“Everybody had written us off against a team like that,” Schembari said. “To put together a six-run lead like that especially after they run-ruled us earlier this year. It’s huge for the guys and the program as a whole.”
On the pitching side, Jon Luechauer threw 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out four. Doral cut into South Broward’s lead, scoring three runs in the seventh inning until Shaun Shapiro shut the door with three strikeouts. He pitched 2.1 innings overall and picked up the save.
Schembari praised his team’s resilience throughout the season as they dealt with ups and downs, which dropped them to the No. 3 seed in their district. South Broward responded by winning three games to ensure it would qualify for the regional playoffs.
The loss marked the earliest exit for the Firebirds (24-4) from the postseason since 2016.
“Being at home helped, but the guys still had to respond wherever the game would have been played,” Schembari said. “They did have a little fire being the 8th seed. They didn’t want this to be their last game.”
This story was originally published May 7, 2024 at 10:52 PM.
