North Broward Prep ace shines in return to state baseball final four
Jack Rostock came to North Broward Prep right after the Eagles won three state championships during a run of four consecutive state finals appearances.
Since last season, one of Rostock’s goals has been to restore North Broward Prep’s championship tradition.
Rostock gave those efforts a big push on Wednesday night by pitching a complete game, and leading the Eagles to a 4-0 shutout of Bushnell South Sumter in a Class 3A state semifinal at Hammond Stadium.
North Broward Prep (25-7) earned the chance to win its fourth state title in the past six seasons when it faces Santa Rosa Beach South Walton in the 3A final on Thursday night at 7.
South Walton, which is ranked No. 11 nationally by MaxPreps, beat Miami Springs 6-2 on Wednesday in the other 3A semifinal. South Walton beat North Broward Prep 14-6 on Feb. 28 at a tournament in Hoover, Alabama.
“I just want to give a big shout out to my defense,” Rostock said. “My stuff was there. I didn’t have as many strikeouts as I envisioned, but I put the ball in play and my defense made the plays.”
Rostock, an NC State commit, struck out only three over seven innings.
But he kept the South Sumter lineup off balance in other ways, inducing weak contact consistently throughout the game, and scattering four hits on 80 pitches. Three of those hits were singles.
Samuel Craig doubled off Rostock but was later stranded in the fourth inning.
“He was dominant,” North Broward Prep coach Brian Campbell said. “Once we got a few runs, I think we felt pretty comfortable. He’s been doing that for us. He’s thrown 14 scoreless innings in a row in the regional playoffs.”
The Eagles quickly gave Rostock a 1-0 lead after the first inning on an RBI single by Julian Rodriguez, which scored Alejandro Cabral, who hit a bloop double with one out two batters earlier.
Rodriguez would drive in two runs with his second coming on a sac fly.
Alex Smith and Gabriel Coupet each had RBIs as North Broward Prep scored one run in the second, third and fifth innings to give Rostock even more run support.
“This is where you want to be and playing against a really good baseball team,” Campbell said. “Our motto is ‘140’. It’s the amount of miles between our school and (Hammond Stadium). The way we won last week (in Clearwater) against Calvary Christian, they made believers of me, and it’s a testament to their character.”
