Stoneman Douglas baseball rolls on in Florida 7A playoffs

PARKLAND, FLORIDA – What separates Marjory Stoneman Douglas baseball from so many other schools is how the Eagles beat teams in so many different ways.

Yes, they have outstanding pitching, especially when their ace, Christian Rodriguez, is on the mound. The University of Florida commit was spot on again Wednesday night, striking out six in five innings. For his prep career, he now has 300 strikeouts. 

Then, you look at the offense, which is a blend of speed, power and athleticism -- from top-to-bottom in the order. On top of that, the Eagles also have a deep bench.

When Douglas puts all phases of its game together, you have a result like what took place in the Class 7A region quarterfinals on Wednesday evening.

Along with his six strikeouts, Rodriguez belted a two-run homer, and Niko Benestad delivered a game-ending grand slam that vaulted Stoneman Douglas to a 14-1 win over Monarch at Anthony Rizzo Field.

“We can do it all," Rodriguez said. "You can't really play us one way. You can't really say, 'Oh, big powerhouse Douglas.' We play small ball. We run. We steal bases. Every here and there, we'll run into one."

Douglas keeps rolling towards what it hopes will be another state championship, and perhaps even a national championship. The Eagles (25-0) are ranked second nationally behind IMG, which capped a perfect 25-0 season, and is not participating in the state playoffs. 

For now, state and national title talk is a distraction. First, the Eagles must take care of business in Class 7A.

"We just drown out outside noise," Rodriguez said of dealing with expectations. "I think we create enough noise from what we do in practice, in the dugout. In the locker room. We create our own noise."

Rodriguez is one of, if not, the best prep pitcher in the state of Florida. The senior certainly is tops in South Florida. On Wednesday, he pitched before a handful of scouts, and his fastball topped at 94 mph. 

At the plate, Rodriguez crushed a two-run homer in a nine-run third inning. Benestad's grand slam with two outs in the fifth inning ended the game due to the 10-run mercy rule. 

Ending the game in five innings saved another inning or two for Rodriguez. But as coach Todd Fitz-Gerald notes, the club has scaled his ace's workload back in recent weeks.

“No doubt, it was huge," Fitz-Gerald said of the game ending via the mercy rule. "But his last couple of starts, we've limited his workload anyway. I don't think he's gone over 70 pitches in his last three starts, so that's good. He will be fresh come Tuesday, if we get there."

First things first. 

Douglas will host Taravella on Saturday. The Trojans defeated Western, 5-1, on Wednesday. Meanwhile, in the other part of the region. West Broward prevailed, 6-5, against South Dade, and Columbus handled Boca Raton, 10-0. 

That sets up West Broward at Columbus on Saturday. 

If Douglas gets past Taravella, Rodriguez would be available for the region finals on Tuesday, which would be in Parkland.

“I couldn’t be happier for my guys,” Fitz-Gerald said. “It’s hard to navigate through our lineup more than twice, once we made some adjustments the second go around. Played a little small ball. Put some guys in motion. Hit-and-running, and slashing. Bunt and run. Then we just kind of broke it open.”

Monarch (13-9-1) was facing Douglas for the second time in a week. In district play, Douglas won, 8-2. On Wednesday, Monarch grabbed the lead in the second inning on Vincent Mercado's home run. It ended up being the only run Rodriguez allowed.

Douglas seized control in the third inning, sending 13 to the plate. Gary started the inning off with a single, and he advanced to second on a throwing error. The Eagles did a bit of everything in the third inning. They collected seven hits, drew a walk, and had a hit batter. They stole a base, executed a sacrifice bunt and Alex Rodriguez (after squaring to bunt), slashed a single in his second plate appearance in the inning.

Devin Fitz-Gerald had an RBI hit, and Rylan Lujo had a two-run single, right before Christian Rodriguez's two-run homer. Jackson Abram had a hit, and Gary had two hits in the same inning.

Gary made his first start in left field because Fitz-Gerald wanted another left-handed bat in the lineup. Now, the Eagles have another option on an already deep roster.

"You’ve got to see what guys can do," Fitz-Gerald said. "We started a guy out there in left field for the first time all year, in a regional quarterfinal game. He did a great job for us. I wanted another left-handed bat in the lineup, and he did a great job."