Somerset Academy Powers Past North Broward Prep
The Panthers had plenty to celebrate during Wednesday’s district victory over North Broward Prep.
Baseball can be a funny game, and it came with a tinge of irony that Somerset Academy won a home district game at a rival’s home field in Wednesday night’s HSBN Broward Game of the Week. Although it served as the host site, North Broward Prep played as the visiting team in its 5A-14 tilt with the Panthers, suffering its first-ever road loss on its new home field as Somerset pulled out a 7-4 victory.
“Onel is a friend of mine and they were caught in a pinch and didn’t have anywhere to play, so I said that we could play here and they could be the home team. He is a friend of mine and I would do anything in the world for him,” North Broward manager Brian Campbell explained. “We were looking forward to it all week and we are glad to have HSBN out here because we are always happy when we see you guys, and you give us really good coverage. It was a good opportunity for us to come out and unfortunately we didn’t play well enough to win.”
This act of grace allowed High School Baseball Network to view the new field at North Broward Prep, an impressive new stadium that was opened for play at the start of this season. The immaculate facility provided an excellent backdrop for Wednesday’s exciting district showdown. Both challengers sprinted to the center of the ring and exchanged blows at the onset of the action, as each side scored runs in every frame of the first three innings of action. The seesaw action is also reminiscent of how both club’s season have gone.
“It’s been a rollercoaster: some games we look really good and some games we look really bad,” Somerset manager Onel Garcia admitted. “We turned around from scoring 10 runs on Pine Crest and then to yesterday where we got two hits, so we are trying to find our identity. We have a good team, but they are young and hopefully they learn quick. I think that the season is still young and we are only at the halfway point now. This is a journey and we just want to be real good by the end.”
The Panthers (9-5) were real good by the end of Wednesday’s action at least, as Miguel Useche put the club ahead in the bottom of the third and then helped that advantage hold up with a strong relief outing on the mound. With things knotted up at 4-4 in the third, Michael Laguardia worked a walk and then moved into scoring position on a passed ball. Useche then sent a 2-0 offering through the left side for an RBI single and a lead they never relinquished.
The right-hander came on in relief in the top of the third, and Useche got into a groove and mowed through the North Broward order with ease. Useche struck out eight batters in a row in one stretch, striking out the side in both the fourth and fifth innings. He retired 10 batters in all and needed just 60 pitches to record the final 14 outs and earn himself his second win of the season.
“Doing both felt great; just helping the team be able to get a ‘W’ was the most important part,” Useche said. “Coach Anier really does a great job of calling pitches, and my curveball really felt good today. I trusted it and that was what Coach Anier was calling, and I let the ball do the rest.”
Both teams came out swinging to put runs on the scoreboard in each of the first three innings.
The previous field at North Broward Prep was known for being hitter-friendly with a short outfield, but even with the sidelines now an additional 25 feet further back Somerset managed home runs from both Gianny Galvez and Jordan Alvarez. Galvez got the Panthers on the scoreboard with a solo shot to left field in the bottom of the first, and Alvarez completed the scoring for his side with a two-run shot also to left field that drove home Jordan Carrion in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Coach Campbell likes that his home field now provides deeper gaps for his hitters, and his guys used those gaps to their advantage with several well-placed hits driven between the outfielders. The Eagles (5-9) sprayed key hits around the field to even things back up in the third inning. Ty Marsh lined a lead-off single over the third baseman and then scored when Zach Goberville crushed a shot to the deepest part of center field for an RBI triple. Logan Clyatt was next with an RBI double into the right-center gap.
Goberville also reached base and scored in the top of the first to give North Broward an early lead. He was hit by a pitch, stole second and then crossed the plate following a throwing error.
The Eagles added another run to take a 2-1 lead in the second. Raul Canard was hit by a pitch and replaced with courtesy-runner Christian Paiiet, who advanced to third on a double to left off the bat of Blake Houston and then scored thanks to a sac-fly RBI from Dustin Snyder.
“We always try to get things going early, but unfortunately we couldn’t keep it going,” Campbell said. “We went silent for four innings and that was the difference in the ball game. Obviously their guys threw well, but we didn’t answer the ball from the fourth inning on offensively and we struck out eight times in a row. They didn’t even have to make a play out there; their whole defense didn’t have to do anything but stand in their positions for eight outs. It is tough to win baseball games when you do that.”
Somerset answered right back in the second to take its first lead. Laguardia walked, Useche reached on an error and Kevin Iber drove in both runners with a screamer that landed just fair down the right field line for a two-RBI double. Jordan Carrion walked and also scored when Max Balducci smacked an RBI double into the right-center field gap.
The Panthers improved to 4-3 in 5A-14 to hold the third position in the current standings. But the Coach Garcia knows the seedings really only set up the match-ups for the district playoffs, rather than necessarily determining anyone’s chances. He knows his team can pitch and hit as well as any of them, and he is counting on his guys to learn from their mistakes and to be to overconfident.
“It all goes out the window at the end of the season anyway, so it doesn’t even matter,” Garcia said. “Sometimes the three seed has an advantage because they play a game and the two seed is just sitting there not playing at all, so the three seed comes with a little energy. I think that is how we did it a couple of years ago, so you never really know. When two good teams get together it is whoever plays the best that day.”
Ty Marsh slides in ahead of the throw for a run in the third inning for North Broward Prep.
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