American Heritage Bats Explode, Carry Patriots to 5A State Title

American Heritage players did not wait long to initiate new head coach Bruce Aven into the fraternity of winning that has been created in the baseball program. On Friday night, after a lengthy weather delay, the Patriots used a five-run third inning and four-run fifth to soundly defeat Ponte Vedra 9-0 and win their first state championship since 2008.

Things did not start so well for Patriots starter Alex Seibold. Ponte Vedra lead-off hitter Jake Jacob ripped a single up the middle. Little did they know at the time, but that would be the Sharks’ lone hit on the evening, as Seibold quickly settled down and was masterful threw six shutout innings, striking out five and walking only two.

“I tried to take today like it was any other game,” said Seibold. “The first inning I always seem to struggle, but after the first tonight, I found my groove and I was hitting my spots, and I just felt dominant out there.”

After a scoreless first two innings, the Patriots staked their claim to the state title with an offensive explosion in the third. Much like the state semifinal game, it was the bottom of the order that started the rally.

Dallas Perez led off with a single, which was followed by a beautifully executed bunt base hit by Brandon Diaz. The bunt showed the versatility of these Patriots, as Diaz had the game-winning, three-run home run Thursday night. Gabe Aurrecoecchea then laid down a perfect bunt of his own, and when the throw was high from the catcher, Heritage had the bases loaded and nobody out.

Brandon Lopez drew a walk, plating the first run of the game. Up to the plate strode Zack Collins and he delivered the game-changing moment when he drove a pitch high off the right-field foul pole for a grand slam. A tight game suddenly had been blown open.

“This team we faced tonight did not get here by accident,” said Aven. “They had a slow-throwing lefty on the mound, which have given us problems this year, so we knew it could be a battle. So I was proud of the kids the way they approached their at-bats tonight. They stayed back, they used the whole field, and like I’ve been telling them all season long, when they do things correctly, then all of a sudden some balls will get out of the yard, and that happened tonight.”

The offense wasn’t done with just one explosion. In the fifth, the Patriots strung together six straight hits to put the game out of reach. Collins started the inning with a double, which was followed by a Danny Zardon RBI single, and a Estaban Puerta two-run homer to left. Brandon Vicens started another rally with a single, and back-to-back doubles by David Villar and Dallas Perez took what was a 5-0 game entering the inning, to a 9-0 advantage by the end of the Patriots’ fifth.

Perez finished the game 2-for-2 with a walk. Perez was instrumental to Thursday’s semifinal win as well, hitting a single before Brandon Diaz’ three-run, game-winning home run.

“We’re just a real deep team,” said Perez. “Our coach preaches to us all the time that sometimes one through four are not going to get the job done, and the bottom of the lineup has to do its job and get on base, so that’s just what we did the past few games.”

The problem on this night for the Sharks was both the top and bottom of the order was getting it done for Heritage. Zardon finished with two hits, and Collins was 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and four RBIs.

For Collins, he was front and center when reliever Brandon Diaz came in to close the game in the seventh, and after strike three to end the game, Collins knew what was coming next, a pile up on the mound.

“I was just hoping not to get hurt,” said Collins, in describing his thoughts after the final pitch. “It’s just such a great feeling. I mean, especially striking the last guy out, and being the catcher, I’m able to do whatever I want, throw the ball up in the air, or whatever, and when I started running out to the mound, I knew I was going to be on the bottom being that I’m the catcher and the first guy out there, but I didn’t care. It’s an amazing feeling. It’s what all high school players play for.”

All season long, Aven has preached to his players about learning to play the game the right way. The former Marlin brought a professional atmosphere to the team, and although the state title is a great result, Aven is hoping he made a bigger impact in his seniors’ lives.

“Most of our seniors, I’m so proud of them,” said Aven. “They’re going to go on and keep playing, and I’m hoping we brought something to their game that’s going to help them in college or pro ball. For our younger guys, we’re going to keep hammering home the same things we’ve taught all year, because these points we preach are the things that win championships.”

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