American Heritage baseball team sweeps Key West to advance to regional finals
It may not have been an elimination game for American Heritage. But there clearly was a sense of urgency for the Patriots.
In Game 2 on Tuesday night, Heritage knew what was on the line. Win, and advance to the Region 4-4A finals. A loss would send the best-of-three series to Key West on Thursday for a decisive Game 3.
As it turned out, Heritage avoided the long bus ride.
The Patriots belted four home runs, and received five strong innings on the mound from Dylan Dubovik, and held on for a 9-5 victory over Key West.
By taking care of business, Heritage (25-6) awaits the winner of the Belen Jesuit/Merritt Island Series. The Nos. 6 and 2 seeds, respectively, have split their first two games, with Game 3 set for Thursday at Belen.
As the top seed, Heritage will host the first two games of the regional finals beginning on Monday. If it goes to a third game, the Patriots will play that game on the road.
Heritage's offense came up big in Game 2, receiving home runs from Blayden Caballero, Sebastian Garavito, Jordan Rich and Chris Levy.
Key West (20-12) received home runs from Sam Holland and Kade Maltz.
'Guys were swinging the bats, on both sides,' Heritage coach Bruce Aven said. 'For us, we were fortunate to even have some arms left. We didn't want to have a Thursday [game]. Don't put it into a situation where baseball can do anything it wants to do. Two inches fair. Two inches foul, can go your way. I was happy we were able to finish the game.'
Had the series gone to a third game, the Patriots were prepared to start Talan Holiday, their ace, who has missed most of the season due to an injury.
Holiday actually was warming up in the seventh inning, and prepared to pitch had the Conchs' comeback attempt gotten closer.
Heritage carried a seven-run lead into the seventh, but the Conchs scored three runs before reliever Caden Garro recorded the final out.
'Give them credit, too,' Aven said. 'They were able to battle back right there at the end.'
Heritage struck quickly, posting three runs in the first inning.
Dubovik opened the scoring with an RBI single, and Caballero followed with a two-run home run.
In the third inning, Garavito capped a nine-pitch at-bat with a two-run homer, making it 5-1.
RJ Machado and Dubovik added RBI hits in the fourth inning. Rich and Levy connected on solo home runs in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.
'We stayed on them,' Aven said. 'We had some quality at-bats.'
By reaching the regional finals, the Patriots put themselves two wins away from advancing yet again to Fort Myers for the state final four. Even though the regional rounds are all best-of-three, the semifinals and finals are single elimination.
Heritage put itself in position for the sweep against Key West by winning Game 1 on Monday.
Left-hander Mark Aleman got the start for the Patriots in Game 1, and did a terrific job, allowing one run in six-plus innings.
The hitting star of the night was Machado, the Patriots senior third baseman. In the fourth inning, with Heritage up 1-0, Machado blasted a grand slam on a 3-0 count. Given the green light, the senior jump all over a fastball and deposited it beyond the wall in left field.
Zack Wilson gave the Heritage the lead in the second inning with a sacrifice fly. Dubovik (Miami commit) provided an insurance run in the sixth inning, scoring on a throwing error. Dubovik, who walked, stole second base. When he swiped third, the throw skipped into the outfield, providing the Patriots outfielder the path to score.
Maltz had an RBI single for Key West.
'Everything is clicking,' Aven said. 'Like I told these guys, we haven't played a game where it's been flawless. Meaning, our defense, our pitching, our hitting. Think of how many times we left guys on base. Even [this series], how many opportunities did we waste? I told them, 'Guys, it was nice, we scored nine. But we could have scored 14. … We still have things we need to clean up.'
MORE SCORES
▪ Region 4-4A semifinal - Merritt Island 4, Belen Jesuit 3: The Wolverines (15-16) were unable to hold an early 3-0 lead and will have to win a decisive third game Thursday at home.
▪ Region 3-3A semifinal - Game 2 - Clearwater Calvary Christian 4, North Broward Prep 0: Julian Rodriguez had two of the Eagles' three hits as they were eliminated from the postseason prior to the state tournament for the first time in five years. North Broward Prep (23-8) lost to the same team that beat it in the state final in 2023.
▪ Region 4-3A semifinal - Game 2 - Killian 3, St. Brendan 2 (8): The decisive third game will be played on Thursday at Killian at 3:30. Eddie Naranjo went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Kendry Blanco drove in another run to help the Cougars (15-14) even the series.
▪ Region 4-2A semifinal - Game 2 - Boca Raton St. Andrews 10, Westminster Christian 0: The Warriors finish the season 17-13-1.
▪ Region 4-1A semifinal - Game 2 - Brito 6, Schoolhouse Prep 5: Hector Santos went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI to lead the Panthers (14-13) to the series-clinching win. Claudio De Los Santos went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI and Christopher Guzman went 2-for-3. Brito advances to the regional finals where it will face either Miami Christian or Jupiter Christian beginning Monday.
▪ Region 4-1A semifinal - Jupiter Christian 8, Miami Christian 7 (series tied 1-1): The teams will play the third game on Thursday at Jupiter Christian at 4.
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