West Broward and Western advance to Florida 7A-D14 baseball finals

PEMBROKE PINES, FLORIDA – If Tuesday night is a sign of what’s to come, West Broward will be tough to beat in Class 7A.

The Bobcats received a complete game shutout from Jason Wachs and Carlos Garcia connected on a home run in a 5-0 victory over Flanagan in the Class 7A-District 14 semifinals at Flanagan.

In Game 1, Western rallied late to beat Taravella, 11-4.

Now, the District 14 championship is set for Thursday at Flanagan. Both teams are expected to move on to regional, regardless of the outcome.

Game 2: West Broward 5, Flanagan 0

A week ago, Flanagan upset West Broward, 2-1, at home.

It was a different story on Tuesday.

Wachs’ only struggled in the first inning, when he yielded a hit and walked two. But with the bases loaded, the junior right-hander recorded two straight strikeouts. From that point, the Tulane commit was in control.

Flanagan didn’t get another hit until the seventh inning. Only Miguel Colmenares and Tyler Lorenzo had hits for the Falcons.

“This team all year has been fighting,” Wachs said. “I just wanted to give us a fighting chance. I wanted to complete it for my guys, so we can have everything going for Thursday.”

West Broward (15-8) had a balanced offense, played strong defense, and Wachs settled after the first inning and went the distance.

“We just wanted to get out of here with a win, and Wachs was awesome,” West Broward coach Howard Stein said. “It’s been a long time since we had a guy control the game like that. He was a true No. 1.”

Nicholas Barcelo had a double and two RBIs, while Andrew Alvarez added two hits. Brandon Vargas had two hits, and two runs batted in, and AJ Cruz delivered an RBI. Garcia’s home run in the third inning opened the scoring.

“With Carlos, we’ve been waiting for that all year,” Stein said. “He hits ‘em in BP, and he finally got a pitch, and he really drove that one tonight.”

Flanagan starter Sergio Mundarain, a junior, battled for six innings. The right-hander limited West Broward to two runs through five innings, before the Bobcats added three more runs in the sixth inning.

“We played good through five,” Flanagan coach Noel Figueroa said. “Sergio did a wonderful job. He kept them off balance.”

Flanagan (11-12) now waits to see if they will advance to the regional. If not, the Falcons season will come to an end.

“It’s a shame it has to end, maybe,” Figueroa said. “Our team turned the corner. We definitely turned the corner. We saw improvement. This team is young. Next year, we can be really good.”

West Broward will advance to regionals, regardless of Thursday’s outcome.

“Everything started to come together now, and this is the perfect time,” Wachs said. “It’s the playoffs. We’re clicking right now. I think we can go a long way.”

The Bobcats have a balanced team, capable of hitting the ball out of the park as well as making things happen on the bases.

“When we have a chance, and we get to string baserunners together, we can make things happen,” Stein said. “We’re really athletic. We run the bases well. We’re a good bunting team. We like to be aggressive, especially when we get the lead.”

Game 1: Western 11, Taravella 4

From the first batter, Western was in a good spot. Aiden Andreu led the first inning off with a home run, and the Wildcats were able to stay close in the early innings, and then broke the game open with a six-run seventh inning.

A year ago, Western won the district championship. So the Wildcats are hoping history repeats itself.

“We’re back in there,” Western coach Onel Garcia said. “Hopefully, we can do it again. Everybody is good here. So, who knows?

Western opened the season against West Broward with a 5-2 loss.

Alex Pena gave Western a big lift, logging 5-1/3 innings of relief after starter Mason McGeehan was lifted after 1-2/3 innings.

Pena gave up two runs the rest of the way.

“I was on the top of the world,” Pena said. “I was looking forward to this all week.”

Taravella threatened in the first inning, putting runners on second and third, but the Trojans were unable to score. and were unable to score.

In the second inning, Western went up by two runs off Anthony Quigley. Luis Lorenzo doubled and scored on an error. Andrew Holt had a hit.

Taravella tied it at two in the second inning. Nate Carroll singled and scored on a wild pitch. The Trojans did go up 3-2 in the third inning. JC Martinez doubled and scored on Carroll’s sacrifice fly.

But in a back-and-forth game, Western was able to seize control in the late innings, scoring two in the sixth and six in the seventh.

“I always tell them, runs in the first are just as important as runs in the seventh inning,” Taravella coach Joe Giummule said. “We had an opportunity in the first with second and third and our cleanup batter up, and we don’t score. We had a chance to open this game up and have a lead.”

Pena was able to make pitches when necessary.

“We were in it last year, in the district finals,” Pena said. “I was a little used to it. I did what I knew I could do. I went out and competed, and I put us in a good spot.”