Pembroke Pines Charter baseball to face powerhouse Archbishop McCarthy in 5A-District 15 finals
PEMBROKE PINES, FLORIDA – Unsure if they had already done enough to advance to next week's regional playoffs, Pembroke Pines Charter treated Wednesday’s Class 5A-District 15 semifinal game against Hialeah as a “must win” situation.
Not only did the Jaguars take care of business, they did so in dominating fashion.
Bryan Barcenas struck out 10 and Paul Abolafia belted a three-run homer in Pines Charter’s 10-0 run-rule rout of Hialeah.
Pembroke Pines Charter blanks Hialeah, 10-0, to advance in Class 5A-District 15. They will face Archbishop McCarthy on Thursday. Paul Abolafia (left) and Bryan Barcenas were the stars of the game.
Photo by Joe Frisaro
The impressive performance advances Pines Charter (13-10) into Thursday’s district final against Archbishop McCarthy, one of the top teams in the state.
“Ultimately, we’re trying to play our best baseball this time of the year,” Barcenas said. “I feel confident going into the later rounds. I feel like we’re all coming together.”
The Jaguars were prepared to use all their top pitchers, if necessary, on Wednesday in hopes of getting past Hialeah (8-12). That wasn’t necessary, because Barcenas was in control from the beginning. The right-hander allowed just one hit to go with his 10 strikeouts.
The game was stopped in the bottom of the sixth inning on Isaiah Negron’s two-run single, which triggered the 10-run rule.
Abolafia came up with the big hit of the night, his three-run shot to left field.
“I knew his velo wasn’t going to beat me,” Abolafia said. “So I just tried to see it deep. I had runners on. I really wasn’t trying to do too much. I was fortunate enough to put it out.”
The Jaguars applied pressure all night, making for a comfortable night. Now, Abolafia is available to pitch against McCarthy on Thursday.
Sebastian Gonzalez had two hits, a double and an RBI. Dylan Escobar added an RBI. Alejandro Puig had a sacrifice fly.
The lone Hialeah hit was by Alejandro De Armas.
“[Abolafia] put us on the board, and gave us a comfortable lead,” Pines Charter coach Carlos Iglesias said. “Little by little we started pulling away from them, and finally, in the sixth inning we were able to put them away.”
Barcenas’ strong outing sets him up to pitch in the regionals next week.
“This is just getting him ready for next week,” Iglesias said. “He was able to give us six strong innings, and our defense played good behind him. This is a good victory going into [Thursday’s] championship.”
The Jaguars are hosting the Class 5A-District 15 tournament. On Thursday, they draw a tough assignment in McCarthy, which blew out American High, 15-0, on Tuesday in a game that was called after four innings.
Antonio Jimenez, a Miami commit, had three hits, including two doubles and two RBIs and Justin Lebron, committed to Alabama, had two hits, a double and an RBI. Austin Manar struck out six, and gave up one hit in 3 1/3 innings.
Andrew Ildefonso added two RBIs, and a double, and Danny Machado had two hits, including a double.
CLASS 2A-DISTRICT 15 CHAMPIONSHIP
Westminster Academy 14, Sagemont 10: Westminster scored nine runs in the first inning, and held on to defeat host Sagemont.
Jesus Garcia had two hits, including a home run, and four RBIs for the Lions. Calvin Martin added two hits and knocked in three runs.
For Sagemont, Austin Bertsch connected on a home run
