Jensen Beach Ends Pines Charter’s Playoff Run

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For the last several years the Pembroke Pines Charter baseball team has established itself as a respected and dangerous opponent. The Jaguars have won two straight district titles and have also won three regional playoffs games during that time. It has earned a reputation as a serious contender and a difficult team to beat.

Wednesday evening the team was forced to say goodbye to a large core of players who have been so instrumental in making all of those things possible. Falling 8-5 to visiting Jensen Beach in a 6A regional semifinal played at Flamingo Park in Pembroke Pines, the Jaguars had to watch 13 seniors leave the field together for the last time.

While the pain of that reality was tough to swallow, Pines Charter Manager Carlos Iglesias swelled with pride for his team and especially for those departing seniors. It is a group that has sacrificed a lot and set a high standard of dedication and determination, and it is an example that Iglesias knows will carry on to the players yet to come in the years ahead.

“Everything started four years ago,” Iglesias said. “Coming into tryouts four years ago we knew we had a good class of freshman, and for the four years they got better and better and better, and they worked very hard. This group right here worked very hard to get to the next level and put the Pines Charter program on another level. This year we have 13 seniors graduating and 12 were with us for four years. I am proud of that. They came as freshmen and they stuck with the program. They got better and it shows the last two years in the way that this group has played. It was a tremendous journey and I love all of these seniors.”

Against a tough and gritty Falcons team, the Jaguars (18-5-1) struggled early and were never able to fully recover. Jensen Beach (22-5-1) opened a 3-0 lead after the first two innings, and held that lead the rest of the way. The Falcons got a big hit from Lyon Richardson in the fifth, when the freshman sent a shot to the left-center field gap with the bases loaded that drove in all three base runners for the decisive runs. It also put the visitors up 6-1 and kept the momentum on their side.

Jensen added two more insurance runs an inning later to go ahead 8-2. But, true to their nature, the Jaguars refused to go down quietly. Down to their final swings, the team mounted one final rally bid to save its season and keep the dream of a state championship alive.

Matthew Rondon and Alex Monge-Rodriguez both worked one-out walks to put some ducks on the pond and put some pressure on the Falcons pitching staff. Peter Dourvetakis worked a 2-2 count and then got the ball on the ground for a 5-3 RBI groundout that pushed Rondon across the plate. Anthony Gomez also got a grounder in the next at bat, reaching on an error that put runners on the corners. This brought cleanup hitter Daniel Rodriguez-Velez to the dish and, just as he has done so many times throughout his Jaguars career, the bulky slugger came through with a clutch hit on an RBI grounder up the middle.

With the deficit now cut in half, Pines Charter now had all the momentum on its side as the Falcons scrambled to try and record the final crucial out they needed. Anthony Nogueiras sent a bouncer up the middle to load the bases, and Trent Herzog then drove home Gomez on a fielder’s choice that kept the bases loaded after pinch-runner Noah Rodriguez beat the throw to second base. With the bases still loaded and the winning run at the plate, Falcons reliever Wade Walton finally got the final out to quell the comeback and end the game.

Although the rally fell short of a miracle conclusion, Coach Iglesias and the rest of the Jaguars staff was served one final reminder of the type of heart this group of players all have.

“They came ready to practice every day and they gave everything they had,” Iglesias said. “Even when we were down 8-2, they gave everything they had. As a coach that is all you can ask for. Even though we lost the game, this group right here knows how to fight. That’s what it is all about; they never gave in and they always believed in themselves. We just were a little bit short tonight. But those guys are going to move on and they had a great run, and they should be proud of the run that they had these last two years.”

Rodriguez-Velez went 2-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the offense, adding an RBI double that got Pines Charter on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. After Gomez singled through the left side, Rodriguez-Velez connected on a shot that sailed far to the deepest part of the ball park, clanging off the fence roughly 374 feet from the plate to just stay in the yard.

Monge-Rodriguez added a run in the fifth, after he doubled to center, advanced on a flyout to right field off the bat of Gomez and then scored on a throwing error.

In the end, some costly mistakes early and a tough day on the mound for the Jaguars pitching staff proved to be too much for the club to overcome. Jensen Beach managed just five hits on the night, but excelled at capitalizing on its scoring opportunities.

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