Heritage, West Broward, McCarthy, Douglas baseball teams advance to regional semifinals

American Heritage’s road to a repeat remains intact, but not without some nervous moments.

The Patriots on Tuesday night snapped a scoreless contest with two runs in the sixth inning, and Talan Holiday struck out 11 in a 2-0 Class 5A regional victory over Pembroke Pines Charter.

Starting pitching was the story.

Holiday, the junior and North Carolina commit, went the distance, scattering three hits with one walk.

In command throughout, Holiday closed out the seventh inning in order, and advanced Heritage (18-10) to the regional semifinals on Friday night with a strikeout.

Pines Charter (10-17) squeaked into the regionals based on the Jaguars’ strength of schedule. Initially, after they lost 12-2 to Archbishop McCarthy last week in the District 15-5A championship game, they thought their season was over.

Before the game, coach Carlos Iglesias said the Jaguars were playing “with house money.”

Given another game, Pines Charter stayed deadlocked with the defending Class 5A state champions behind the stellar pitching of sophomore Dean Jaworski.

The left-hander carried a shutout in the sixth inning before the Patriots finally got on the board.

Rafael Furcal Jr. started the rally with a one-out single. Andrew Ortiz lined an RBI double to right-center.

Ortiz had given Jaworski trouble all game, drawing walks in his two previous plate appearances.

Jaworski recorded the second out of the inning, and was relieved by Sebastian Gonzalez.

After issuing a walk, freshman shortstop Blayden Caballero delivered a two-out, RBI single, giving the Patriots a little more room. Caballero had two of the Patriots’ six hits.

R.J. Machado added a single and Sebastian Garavito chipped in with a double on the night for the Patriots.

Jaworski’s final line was 5 2/3 innings, two runs on five hits with four walks and seven strikeouts.

Alejandro Puig, Justin Providence and Isiah Negron had the three hits – all singles -- for Pines Charter.

American Heritage advances to the regional semifinals on Friday at home against Mater Academy, which beat Riviera Beach Suncoast 7-5 on Tuesday night.

▪ Region 4-5A quarterfinal - Archbishop McCarthy 4, Belen Jesuit 2: Stephen Joyce gave up two runs in six-plus innings, and Greg Caban belted a home run to lead Archbishop McCarthy.

McCarthy (14-14) played one of the toughest schedules in the state, earning the Mavericks a home game after they won the District 15-5A title last week.

Joyce allowed four hits and two walks and struck out five to pick up the win.

The Mavericks took a two-run lead in the first inning, and built a four-run lead heading into the sixth inning before Belen battled back.

Ernie Echevarria had two hits and an RBI for Jesuit (19-9). Brandon DeGoti allowed two runs on six hits with five strikeouts for the Wolverines.

Caden Coleman had a triple and two hits, and scored for McCarthy. Miguel Delgado added a double and scored and Danny Machado delivered a single and also scored a run.

McCarthy next travels to Rockledge on Friday in the 5A regional semifinals.

▪ Region 4-7A quarterfinal - West Broward 10, Taravella 0: Jason Wachs and Ethan Lindor each deposited home runs to power West Broward in a game that was halted after six innings because of the mercy rule.

The Bobcats (22-5-1) had been one of the surprise teams in South Florida, with a roster filled with standout seniors like Wachs (Tulane commit), shortstop Alejandro Sardinas (Dayton) and right-hander J.P. Querales.

Querales threw the six-hit shutout, logging all six innings in the game that was stopped after Wachs’ three-run homer in the sixth inning extended the Bobcats’ lead to 10 runs.

Along with his home run, Wachs had a triple, two walks, and he finished with four RBIs and three runs scored.

Lindor, a sophomore, collected three hits and two RBIs. The outfielder homered in the fifth inning. Sardinas had an RBI single, and in the fifth inning, Ivan Sabater had two-run single, opening up a six-run lead.

▪ Region 4-7A quarterfinal - Stoneman Douglas 5, South Dade 1: A four-run third inning provided Stoneman Douglas with plenty of cushion to advance.

Rylan Lujo, Gio Rojas and Alex Rodriguez each had two hits for Stoneman Douglas.

Corey Rodriguez had the lone hit and RBI for the Buccaneers.

▪ Region 4-5A quarterfinal - Mater Academy 7, Riviera Beach Suncoast 5: Yodelkis Quevedo led the Lions going 3 for 5 and had the game-winning home run in the bottom of the eighth inning after Mater rallied to tie the game in the seventh. Quevedo had four RBI and scored two runs. Bryan Fernandez went 1 for 3 with a home run and three RBI.

Jonathan Leyva pitched four innings, striking out eight while allowing two earned runs on five hits and three walks. Mater Academy will travel to Plantation on Friday to face American Heritage at 7 p.m.

▪ Region 4-6A quarterfinal - West Boca Raton 4, St. Thomas Aquinas 3

This story was originally published May 7, 2024 at 11:14 PM.