West Broward Gains Signature Win Over Douglas

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The West Broward baseball team has been a bit of a mystery so far in 2014. The Bobcats have taken care of the teams they were expected to beat, but have lost their only two games against ranked opponents (#1 Flanagan, #9 Cypress Bay). That was until Thursday afternoon.

The Bobcats received another stellar performance on the mound from Michael Schappell, and scored the one run they needed in the third to defeat #7 Douglas 1-0. The road win was the type of performance Manager Sergio Ambros had been looking for from his team in big games.

“We had Flanagan in a 3-2 game, and it got out of hand, then we had Cypress Bay and an error cost us that game, so it was nice to see the guys play a complete game today against one of the better teams in the county,” said Ambros. “We have been progressing towards this point, and there is still a lot of improving that we need to do, but this was a step in the right direction towards where we want to be at the end of the season.”

Where the Bobcats were Thursday was on the road against a Douglas team that had caught its groove in recent weeks. The Eagles had won six games in a row coming into this one, and with ace Jesus Luzardo on the hill, Douglas expected to make it seven straight.

What they did not expect, however, was the pitching performance that was to come from Schapell. The West Broward ace came into the game having given up no earned runs in 32 innings of work. All he did on this day was extend that streak by seven innings, as he finished with a complete game, six-hit shutout.

“I’ve been really trying the past few weeks to work more with my body on the mound,” said Schappell. “I’ve done that so late in the games I’ll have more stamina and have more on my fastball. I knew these guys are a great team, and I had to keep them off base, so I did my best to limit their chances.”

The couple of times Eagles runners did manage to reach base, Schappell took care of them with his pick-off move. He picked two Douglas runners off, one off second, and the other at first base. The pick-offs helped thwart scoring opportunities for Douglas.

“I thought it was a good secret, but unfortunately it is out now, he has one of the best moves in the county,” said Ambros. “We know they like to be aggressive, and he was able to take advantage of that today.”

The only run West Broward would need came in the top of the third. After two flyouts, Devin Hadley hit a double down the right-field line. Jordan Martinez followed with what would become the game-winning RBI, on a single to left.

The Bobcats may have added more in the inning had Eagles left-fielder Yorvis Torrealba not made a diving play to end the inning. Torrealba recorded all three outs in the inning for Douglas, with two coming on diving catches. The defense by Torrealba was just one of the many great defensive performances made by the two teams.

“This was just a well-played game,” said Eagles Manager Todd Fitz-Gerald. “It’s hard to get too upset after a game like this. Their pitcher threw great, Jesus was great, both teams played good defense. Sergio does a great job over there, and they played a very good game. You have to just tip your cap to them and move on.”

The two teams figure to play big roles in the 8A playoffs. West Broward improved to 11-2 on the year, while Douglas fell to 9-4.

“We cut our season into thirds,” said Ambros. “The first third we see what we have. The second third we start to improve, and in the final third, that is when we want to be hitting our stride heading into the playoffs. It is good to see the progression so far this season.”

For Douglas, the areas needing improvement are obvious to Fitz-Gerald.

“Games like this, you have to be crisp running the bases, and you have to be able to execute bunts,” he said. “We didn’t do that today, and we got beat. Nothing more to say than that.”

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