Baseball roundup: Defending champ, underdog Miami Springs returns to state
Somehow, some way, the amazing journey of the Miami Springs baseball team continues.
Even though they are the defending Class 3A state champions, the Golden Hawks returned only two starters from that team, and lost their coach David Fanshawe when he left to coach at Doral Academy.
The Hawks, coached now by top assistant Corey Estrada, made the postseason with a barely above-.500 record and made the playoffs as an eighth seed out of eight teams in Region 4-3A.
And yet, Miami Springs is headed back to state after beating No. 3 seed Gulliver 7-2 in the third and decisive game of a best-of-3 region final at Gulliver.
The Hawks’ 2-1 series win followed them eliminating top seed St. Brendan in the quarterfinals and No. 4-seed iMater Charter in the semifinals.
Springs became only the second No. 8 seed in state history to advance to the final four, joining Winter Springs, which accomplished the feat in 6A in 2023.
“Nobody believed we could do this and doubted us, but we didn’t doubt each other,” said Springs’ ace relief pitcher Damian Villabrille who was one of many heroes for the Hawks in the Game 3 win. “We knew things were starting to come together at the end of the regular season. Now we’re going back to Fort Myers again and would love to bring another championship back to Miami Springs.”
The Hawks (19-10-1), who have won 13 of their past 14 playoff games, have a huge hurdle to overcome if they’re to become the first No. 8 seed to get to a state final since they now have to face Santa Rosa Beach South Walton in the semifinal on Wednesday at either 10 a.m. or 1. It will be a rematch of last year’s final that Springs won 2-1.
South Walton is ranked No. 11 in the nation, per Max Preps, is 28-4 and has beaten its past five opponents by a combined score of 47-2.
Villabrille enjoyed perhaps his greatest high school moment Saturday when he entered the game in the bottom of the fourth to relieve starter Michael Maiquez with his team up 5-2. Villabrille inherited a bases loaded, no out jam with the top of the order coming up for Gulliver.
A few minutes later, Villabrille, in part thanks to maybe the defensive play of the year by third baseman Edwin Barrientos, walked off the mound celebrating with teammates as the Raiders never scored a run.
Villabrille got Lucas Murphy to fly out to shallow left for the first out before Chase Cherne fouled out to third base. That set the stage for No. 4 hitter Darwin Vargas who laced a hard grounder just inside the third base bag. But Barrientos dove to his right to spear the grounder, then got up and dove for third base, stretching his glove out to just barely get the force out to end the inning and rob Vargas of a sure RBI double.
“Honestly those big moments are where I feel I’m at my best,” said Villabrille, who would go on to finish out the final three innings giving up just two hits and striking out five. “My teammates, my coaches, they trust me that I can handle situations like that and, even though it was only the fourth inning, it was probably getting out of that jam at that moment that won us the game. A big shout out to Edwin. That was clutch, an incredible play.”
After winning Game 1 on Friday, 12-7, thanks mainly to the long ball as Taylor Ancheta, Eisler Piloto and Adrian Henriquez each homered, Springs likely thought they would just cruise to No. 13 on Saturday morning.
But the Raiders (19-13) had other plans. Thanks to a two-out, three-run bases-clearing double by Murphy in the second inning, Gulliver jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead and never looked back. Cherne, the starting pitcher, turned in six scoreless innings, yielding just four hits as Gulliver coasted to a 10-0 victory forcing the third and deciding game.
Unlike the first game, the Hawks were the ones that jumped out to the early lead when they broke a 1-1 tie by plating three runs in the top of the second. The big hit came with two on and two outs when Esaul Pena lofted a soft fly ball to short right center.
When the Gulliver second baseman, right fielder and center fielder didn’t communicate as to who would catch it, the ball fell between them and the Hawks were up 4-1.
Kristopher Mederos and Yordan Torres then ripped back-to-back two out doubles to left center in the third inning to make it 5-1 before the Raiders scored once in the bottom of the inning on a two-out RBI single by Landon Semintilli setting the stage for Villabrille’s heroics in the fourth.
They didn’t need them, but the Hawks then added single runs in the sixth and seventh to complete the scoring.
“We just had to put it behind us and came out in the second game with a blank canvas,” said Pena, who finished 3-for-4 with the two RBIs when asked about his team trying to recover from the lopsided Game 2 loss. “It was 0-0 all over again and getting the early lead was big. They took the early lead in the first game early so once we got the lead early in the second, we knew we’d be good.”
Soaking wet from a water cooler bath, Estrada could not gush enough about his players and what they had just accomplished.
“I just can’t say enough about what these boys have done over the last few weeks,” Estrada said. “It’s never been about one individual either. It’s about each of them stepping up at different moments doing their part. Today it was Damian showing his senior leadership and coming through for us on the mound, Edwin making that great defensive play and the others getting the key hits when we needed them. This is a different team than the one that was on the field a month ago. They’re playing with a ton of confidence right now and if we’re the underdogs going out to Fort Myers? So be it. We’ve been underdogs these last few weeks and we’re still here.”
Region 4-6A final - St. Thomas Aquinas 6, Southridge 5: Nico Sabatino, who had a key game-tying two-run home run that led to the Raiders’ 3-2 walk-off win in the first game of the series, had three hits in the series-clincher on Saturday night to propel the Raiders (26-6) back to Fort Myers on another walk-off comeback win. Matthew Conger had two doubles and Brayden Farrell had two hits, including a solo home run. Aquinas will face Stuart Martin County in a 6A semifinal on Friday at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers at either 10 a.m. or 1.
Region 4-5A final - Mater Academy 10, Archbishop McCarthy 9: The Lions (26-6) earned the chance to defend their state championship with the 2-0 series sweep. Bryan Mesa hit a three-run home run while Dylan Fernandez and Jonathan Esponda each had two hits and two RBI. Andre Suarez and Yoelkis Quevedo each had two hits and an RBI.
Mater Academy will next play in a 5A state semifinal against an opponent to be determined on Monday, May 18 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.
Region 4-4A final - American Heritage 9, Somerset Academy 6: Angelo Geraldo had four hits, including two home runs and a double, and had five RBI to lead the Patriots (21-9) to the series sweep. Anthony Lyman had a three-run double and Giancarlo Gandarilla had two hits. Heritage will attempt to repeat as 4A state champions and win its third state title in the past four seasons. The Patriots will face either Tampa Jesuit or Orlando Bishop Moore in a state semifinal on Tuesday, May 19 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.
Region 3-3A final - North Broward Prep 8, Clearwater Calvary Christian 7: The Eagles (24-7) scored a 2-1 series victory over the Warriors, who entered the weekend with a 28-1 record. North Broward Prep avenged last year’s loss in the regional semifinals and advanced to the state final four for the fifth time in six seasons. The Eagles will play Bushnell South Sumter in the 3A state semifinals at either 4 or 7 on Wednesday.
Alex Smith had a three-run home run on Friday in the Eagles’ 3-0 win and Jack Rostock struck out six and allowed five hits and a walk over seven shutout innings. Caden Coleman hit two solo home runs in the second game of the series Saturday.
Region 4-1A final - Schoolhouse Prep 4, Brito 1: The Wolfpack (17-13) advanced to state for the first time in school history after a 2-0 series sweep. Rogelio Perez led Schoolhouse in the second game with two hits while Fransisco Mejias hit a solo home run. Jorge Quintero, Aaron Aguilar and Alexandro Jimenez each had an RBI.
Schoolhouse will play Orange Park St. Johns Country Day on Thursday at 10 a.m. or 1 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.
This story was originally published May 10, 2026 at 1:35 PM with the headline "Baseball roundup: Defending champ, underdog Miami Springs returns to state."
