St. Thomas Aquinas upsets Stoneman Douglas, hands Eagles first Broward loss in two years
For the first time in two years, the Stoneman Douglas baseball team is dealing with defeat.
The Eagles also are hampered by injuries and inconsistencies.
On Wednesday night, they also ran into a hot pitcher on a hot team.
Anthony Ciscar, committed to Miami, gave up one run in five innings and Zack Malvasio connected on a three-run home run to lead St. Thomas Aquinas to a 7-3 win against nationally-ranked Stoneman Douglas.
“We’re banged up,” Douglas coach Todd Fitzgerald said. “Our shortstop is out. Our left fielder is out. We’ve got 10th graders on the field. It’s not a senior-heavy team. It’s a talented team, but it’s not a senior-heavy team. We’ve got some things to figure out.”
The loss was the Eagles (9-2) second in three games, and first to a Broward County school since Feb. 22, 2022 – 4-3 to Taravella in the season opener.
Last Saturday, Douglas had its 59-game winning streak snapped, 5-4 to Tallahassee Lincoln. Douglas’ steak is a state record for a public school, but fell one win shy of the Clearwater Calvary Christian Academy’s overall mark of 60 (2017-18).
It’s not helping that Douglas regularly faces every team’s ace. That again was the case on Wednesday, with Ciscar showing why he’s worthy of having a handful of scouts from MLB teams in attendance.
The right-hander gave up one run in five innings. While Ciscar walked four (including Alex Rodriguez twice), the senior struck out five and repeatedly showed the knack of working out of trouble.
Ciscar’s fastball was clocked between 87-91 mph.
In the fifth inning, Ciscar ran into a bit of trouble, dealing with two runners on and one out. The Raiders (11-3) were ahead, 7-1, at the time.
St. Thomas coach Joey Wardlow had Quinn O’Keefe warming up. But during a mound visit, Ciscar made his case to get out of the inning.
“We had a great game today as a whole,” Ciscar said. “Every single out is important. I felt I had the best chance of getting this guy out, possibly getting a ground ball for a double play. I just happened to strike him out and get the next guy.”
Even with his pitch coach in the mid-80s at the time, Ciscar backed up the decision to stay in, and got out of the jam.
“Anthony has been with us for four years,” Wardlow said. “And I trust him and he trusts me. But he also puts in a level of work on his conditioning and his body that is unbelievable.”
Douglas’ lineup is a bit beaten up with shortstop Devin Fitz-Gerald (North Carolina State commit) being used in the designated hitter role because he’s not 100 percent. Outfielder Bennett Gary (Miami commit) is out with an injury.
Fitz-Gerald had two hits, including a double in a two-run seventh inning. Rylan Lujo (Dayton commit) also had two hits and two RBIs.
“I told you guys a couple of weeks ago, we’re not the No. 1 team in the country,” Todd Fitz-Gerald said to media members postgame. “I know what the No. 1 team in the country looks like. We’re going to be a state contender, and that’s our goal, to be a state champion. But it’s going to take us some time, and we may drop a few more down the way until we figure out who are. Right now, I don’t think we know who we are.”