Gramesty’s Walk-Off Wins 3A-12 Title For North Broward

Catcher TJ Gramesty played hero for North Broward Prep on Thursday night as the Eagles walked it off against the Coral Springs Charter Panthers in the eighth inning to claim a third-straight district championship, 4-3.

Neither team had scored since the fifth, but Gian De Castro sparked a rally after being hit by a pitch on what would have been ball four of a seven-pitch at-bat. Riley Luft singled to left, putting De Castro in scoring position, and Gramesty got his first hit of the night to walk off a winner.

“Really, I was thinking that the two great at-bats before from Gian and Riley helped me feel like I had the advantage at the plate when I stepped into the box,” Gramesty said. “They took care of the hard part and left me with an easier job.”

CS Charter took an early lead against North Broward, getting to the Eagles’ ace, Ryan McPherson, for a run in the first. Jeovanni Hernandez scored the run after swiping second and taking third uncontested following a failed bunt attempt. The Eagles bounced back immediately, though, scoring two runs off a single from Luft.

Both teams went down in order in the second, and McPherson ran into trouble a bit of trouble again in the third. Two-straight singles brought in Mateo Gray to pitch, but Killian O’Neill got to the UCF commit for a single to the right side that tied the game at two. An error led to a third run and put McPherson in line for the loss, but North Broward got the run back in the fifth off a De Castro homer.

Gray pitched through the seventh for the Eagles, and Luft came earned the win after throwing the eighth inning. The Panthers used Brady Gentile, Dylan Applebaum and Chase Wildroudt to get through 7 1/3 innings before succumbing to the walk-off.

Applebaum took over in the first inning for Gentile with no outs and went five innings strong, giving up just one run on three hits and a walk while striking out three. Windrout was in the middle of his third inning of work when Gramesty delivered the game-winner.

North Broward should enter the regional tournament as the top seed in Class 3A Region 3 and enjoy a home-field advantage throughout the tournament. Coral Springs Charter will also play again next week with an at-large bid.

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