North Broward Prep Rides Vigliarolo’s Two Home Runs Into 3A Regional Final

NBP’s Mike Vigliarolo takes a pick-off throw from Josean Lazaro early in the Eagles 5-3 win over American Heritage.

North Broward Prep and American Heritage have been here before. Last week, in fact, the Eagles and Patriots faced off for the District 14-3A title, and Heritage emerged with the trophy. On Friday night, NBP got their revenge.

The Eagles used two home runs by first baseman Mike Vigliarolo to gain a lead they would never relinquish. In the end, the Eagles held on for a 5-3 win, advancing to the 3A regional final game next week, while ending their rival’s season in the process.

Vigliarolo was the offensive hero with two-run homers in both the first and third innings. The senior first baseman has tortured the Patriots all season long, going 7-for-12, with five runs scored and six RBIs in four games versus Heritage this year. Familiarity was the reason Vigliarolo believes he was so successful against NBP’s rival this season.

“I’ve seen Nesselt five or six times already in my career, so the last few times, I knew how he was going to throw to me,” said Vigliarolo. “I just made adjustments, and hit the ball hard.”

On the mound, the Eagles put the ball in the hands of Josean Lazaro and Sarkis Ohanian. The two seniors have been the go-to guys on the mound all year, and Friday night was no different. Lazaro went the first 5.1 innings, giving up only two earned runs, while striking out ten. Ohanian then came in and closed the door, striking out four in 1.2 innings of work.

“(Josean) is one of the biggest competitors I know,” said Vigliarolo, when asked about Lazaro’s obvious frustration with being pulled with one out in the fifth. “Every time he pitches, he just brings the intensity of the team up. Him and Sarkis both, we just play at another level when they pitch.”

Luckily for North Broward Prep, they both pitched Friday, although the intensity was apparent from the time these two teams took the field for pregame. Playing a rival is always intense, and when a trip to the regional finals is on the line, it is safe to assume the intensity registers higher than normal.

The Eagles celebrate their regional semi-final win on Friday night.

After NBP had built a 5-2 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth, Heritage fought back. After two strikeouts to start the inning, Brandon Vicens singled and Dallas Perez walked. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, and that is when the game-changing moment occurred.

Lead-off hitter Brandon Diaz lined a single up the middle, and both runners appeared to have scored. As the Heritage players and fans celebrated, Eagles Head Coach Brian Campbell slowly made his way towards the second base umpire. Campbell contended that the line drive off the bat of Diaz hit the umpire. After a meeting of the entire umpiring crew, the ruling was, indeed, that the ball had hit the umpire before it made its way to the outfield.

American Heritage Coach Todd Fitz-Gerald went out for an explanation, while many of the fans stood confused. After receiving the explanation, Fitz-Gerald offered no further argument.

“The ump said the ball hit him in the foot,” said Fitz-Gerald. “I went out there and saw it, there was a mark on his foot, with a seam. It just becomes a dead ball and a single, and nobody can advance. It was a huge play in the game, it would have cut the lead to 5-4, and then we get the home run later in the game, and who knows what would have happened.”

Many in the stands felt that the umpire is part of the field of play, and that any ball that hits an umpire is live. Luckily, Broward’s head of officials, Dick Rushin, was in attendance watching the game, and he offered this clarification of the rule.

“It depends on where the ball hits the umpire,” said Rushin. “If the umpire is in front of the fielder, and the fielder does not have a chance to make a play on the ball (as was the case in this situation), then the ball is dead, and the runners cannot advance. If the umpire is behind the fielder, and the fielder has already had an opportunity to make a play on the ball, then the ball would have been live.”

After the controversy died down, it was back to the game, and Heritage had one last chance to tie the game or take the lead. In the seventh, Derrick Fritz and Esteban Puerta both drew walks. Ohanian then struck out Patriots starting pitcher Jimmy Nesselt, who had stayed in the game as the designated hitter after leaving the mound. Another walk loaded the bases, and put the tying run on second, but the Eagles closer stepped up and struck out the final two Heritage batters to end the rally and the game.

“I’ve been a little sore, but I just had to work through it and find something down deep to get the job done,” said Ohanian.

The Eagles will now move on to face Gulliver Prep next Friday in Miami, with the winner advancing to the state final four. NBP will take this weekend to enjoy the win, and Campbell was reflective after the victory of what his team has accomplished so far.

“Our kids had goals,” said Campbell. “And they knew they had to win tonight to reach some of those goals. We wanted to get twenty wins, and tonight we got our twentieth win. We wanted to advance deep into the playoffs, and now we’ve done that. Now we have to make sure we stay focused and get back to work on Monday.”

One Response to “North Broward Prep Rides Vigliarolo’s Two Home Runs Into 3A Regional Final”