Pine Crest Offense Erupts On Coral Springs Charter

District Playoff Gallery

Oftentimes all an offense needs to get going is a little spark.

Monday afternoon Pine Crest second baseman Jordan Schulefand generated that charge the way gasoline reacts to a bonfire. Trailing by a run with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth, Schulefand cleared the bags with a shot deep to left field to ignite his team. Pine Crest erupted from there to pull away with a 10-1 win over Coral Springs Charter, in a 4A-14 quarterfinal played at Ian Beisner Field on the Nova Southeastern University campus in Davie.

The victors will move on to face top-seeded North Broward Prep on Wednesday in the district semifinals, after the Eagles earned a bye to advance through the opening round of the 4A-14 tournament. The win also gave Manager Ryan Shealy his first playoff victory, after he took over for longtime Manager Glen Piersen this season.

“It’s a huge win,” said Shealy. “Glen has been a fixture in the program for so long, and he still is, and it’s nice to get a win over Charter for him too. It’s nice to beat them this year because they have eliminated us the last few years, and they sent us home last year too.”

Trailing 1-0 in the fourth, the Pine Crest offense came to life to rally back. Michael Rothenberg rolled a single just out of reach of the diving shortstop Ryan Chusid, but was then erased on a fielder’s choice that landed Alex Perez on first base. Adam Saks followed by plunking a hit to opposite field and then Jacob Singer lined a single to center field to load the bases and bring Schulefand to the plate. Charter starter Brent Kessinger quickly got up 0-2 in the count, as he attacked to try and work his way out of trouble.

“He kept throwing me fastballs and he wanted to come after me,” Schulefand said. “The bases were loaded and he had to, and I just happened to put a great swing on it. That was the farthest ball I ever hit in my life. It felt great and it was great to get four runs on the board and help us get going. After we scored those runs I couldn’t have been any happier.”

After Schulefand’s big double gave the offense its biggest hit of the day, Matt Rothenberg added an RBI single to shallow right field to drive him in and push the lead to 4-1. The order stayed hot the rest of the way, piling on six more runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull away to victory. Schulefand was a big part of it once again, as he was hit by a pitch and scored to start off the frame, and then came back up and drove in Perez for the final run of the contest. Chandler Cissel had an RBI triple, while Matt Rothenberg and Singer had RBI singles and Michael Rothenberg and Saks chipped in with sac-fly RBIs.

“Our team is loaded; the entire one to nine is just loaded,” Schulefand said of his talented and dangerous offensive unit. “We put up 15 hits today, and as soon as everyone puts the bat on the ball it is just great.”

The run support was more than enough to back Pine Crest starter Garret Rukes, who went the distance to earn the victory on the mound. The freshman left-hander needed just 92 pitches to go the full seven innings, and 62 of those throws went for strikes to earn Rukes five strikeouts on the day.

On top of his own strong performance was the fact that Pine Crest (12-14) did not have to use any other arms in the contest. Needing two more wins in order to grab the district title, the team appreciated that it still has all the other pieces of its bullpen rested and ready to go. In one of the toughest district brackets in the area, each squad in it knows that pitching will play a massive factor in which club can emerge with the title.

“Our starting pitcher gave us a complete game, and he has been a horse all year and he has kind of carried us on the mound,” said Shealy. “Typically it is who has enough pitching to get through it, so Garret going the complete game today is huge for us. But he has been a guy who virtually every time he has gone out for us he has given us four or five quality innings, so we knew stretching him out today wouldn’t be an issue. We were real pleased to get through it with just him throwing the complete game.”

Coral Springs Charter (14-10) has gotten strong and consistent pitching all year long, which is a big factor in the solid season it put in this year. On Monday that pitching did not struggle, but rather simply ran into a lineup that got red-hot at just the right moment.

“First and foremost, you have to give credit to Pine Crest,” said Charter Manager George Mianowksi. “They came out and played complete baseball, and that’s what you’ve got to do come district time. It’s not about whom the best team is or what your record is. The guys who are going to come out and compete and play playoff baseball are the ones who are going to win.”

Early on it was Charter who grabbed the momentum and found success at the plate. The club put runners on in each of the first four innings, and was the first to crack the scoreboard in the top of the fourth. Joe McChrystal led off the frame with his second single of the day, and then gave way to courtesy runner Chris Chico. Chico moved to second on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, and Charter executed a great hit-and-run to put Chico in motion as Chris Budden connected on a 1-0 offering to drive him home on the RBI single. Budden was 2-for-3 on the afternoon.

Although the team was not able to mount a comeback, the execution for its lone run served strong reminder to what the veterans have preached to the younger guys throughout the course of the year.

“If you want to be successful at the plate; it’s the approach. If you want to be successful on the mound; it’s about the approach,” said Kessinger. “You can’t just throw. You’ve just got to have in mind what you’re doing, and once you can start thinking about what you’re doing that is when you can start doing it. If you don’t know what you are going to do when a situation comes up there is no way you are going to succeed.”

Kessinger was one of 10 seniors on the Charter roster who saw his high school career come to an end at the conclusion of action. After the roster lost a few members and the squad also welcomed in a new manager in Mianowski, it was the influence and example of the remaining veterans who helped the club put in such a solid 2014 campaign.

“I’m happy for our guys; we had a pretty good season,” Mianowski said. “We would have liked to keep playing, but I am very proud of my seniors, especially the ones who stepped up midway through the season. They realized they were not going to be everyday players and just did a great job of getting in there and pitching, playing some defense and doing some things offensively. All in all I am proud of these guys and these seniors and I just wish we could have gone out on a different note. I hope they all go in the same direction as they plan. These younger guys learned a lot from this year and we just continue to build with the program.”

Charter was motivated to prove the naysayers wrong, after they heard whispers around the area that the team would not have much chance to be successful following so much turnover. The club responded to play solid baseball and contend in a very challenging district, and prove that it was not rebuilding this year but simply readjusting with what they had to work with.

“Going into the season we knew it was going to be a struggle just trying to find out who was going to play where,” Kessinger admitted. “A lot of us seniors had been pitcher-onlys for the last few years, so we were really excited to get back out and play on the field. It’s a little bittersweet to see it end now, but there isn’t anybody else I would rather want to do it with.”

While the ride comes to an end for Charter, Pine Crest survived and advanced to give itself a fighting chance to chase after the district title. The team had its own share of struggles during the season, but has come together down the stretch to play its best baseball of the season.

“No question we are playing pretty well right now,” Shealy said. “We lost a couple of games down in the Keys, but we played well there and we carried it over into today. We had timely hitting. The first few innings we hit a couple of balls on the screws that didn’t get through, and then we started finding holes. This time of year it is about the hottest team, and hopefully we can continue to stay hot.”

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