Monsignor Pace Downs Coral Springs Charter To Reach 4A Regional Final

Knowing their opponent was a team that matched up well with themselves, the Monsignor Pace Spartans came out with a plan to get runs early and stay ahead.

They executed that plan well Wednesday night, defeating host Coral Springs Charter 7-3.

Pace (21-7) moves on to host Gulliver Prep (18-8) in the regional final at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Spartans, who never trailed, took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second. Brandon Gomez and Anthony de la Cruz got on base with a hit and walk, respectively. Andrew McCoy followed with a two-run single to bring them in before Manuel Pazos came home on a passed ball.

Charter (20-8), which was trying to get to the regional final for the first time, narrowed the margin to 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth. Colton Rogers walked and came home on Brandon Laboy’s base hit.

Pace extended its lead to 7-1 in the top of the fifth on four errors and a pair of hits. Pazos led off with a double and was brought in by Bryan Bermudez’s single. Andrew McCoy, who reached on an error, and Bermudez scored on wild pitches, and Alex Perez, the starting pitcher, scored on another error.

Despite the large deficit, the Panthers remained undaunted and made the score 7-3 in the sixth. Laboy got on with a fielder’s choice and pinch-hitter Matt Fierman smacked a double, moving Laboy to third. Christian Khawly, who had three hits, followed with a single to plate Fierman and Laboy.

Stephen Kerr and Matt Marek had base hits in the bottom of the seventh, but the Spartans turned a 5-3 double play to end the game.

“I don’t have any answers,” Coral Springs Charter coach Mike Higgins said. “We made six or seven errors. That killed us. You’re just not going to win a baseball games if you can’t catch a baseball. The true character came out. We never gave up. We fought back to get into a position to possibly get back into the game. Pace is a very good baseball team. You can’t take anything from them. They’re the type of team that if you make an error, they’re going to make you pay. And that’s exactly what they did.”

Higgins credited his seven assistant coaches, including three with professional experience, for helping guide the team this season, especially when Higgins was involved with football as the team’s head coach.

“I’m extremely proud of this group of kids,” Higgins said. “This team has got a lot character. It was a great group. I really enjoyed coaching these guys this year. I don’t regret any of it. I thought it was a fantastic year. We did some things we’ve never done. I’ve seen this team in the past just give up. We’ve progressed week to week to week.”

Perez said Charter played as advertised, but his team was ready for the battle that ensued.

“Charter came out strong,” Perez said. “I didn’t know much about them, but I heard that they were a good team that fights to the end, and that’s what they did. So I went out there and battled. Our team came out ready to go and made all the plays out there behind me. We got some clutch hits and we just put the runs on the board.”

Perez said that fighting spirit he sees in his team can be the spark that carries it to the state tournament for the first time since Pace won it all in 2006. It’s also the last time Pace has been in a regional final.

“That’s been our goal, taking it game by game and trying to get to the finals,” Perez said. “Hopefully we come out on top. Our team right now is great. We’re all brothers. We’re all just carrying together and we all trust each other. We just have to keep on getting stronger and stronger together.”

Spartans coach Tom Duffin said he knew his team needed a better effort than it gave against Pine Crest last week. In that game, Pace needed to rally in the bottom of the seventh for a walk-off 2-1 win.

“They’re a very good team,” Duffin said. “We knew we had to come out and score more than two runs to win this game. They swing the stick and have good pitching. They’re as deep in pitching as well as we were. But at the same time, we knew we had to jump out early and get some runs. We did early and then we tapered away from our game plan a little bit. We were tough outs tonight. We put balls in play and they sort of booted it around in the third and fourth inning, and the fifth inning as well, and we capitalized on those errors and had a big fifth inning.”

Duffin said the Spartans are ready for another battle on their hands Friday night against Gulliver. It will be the first time this season the teams will meet.

“You gotta love the matchup,” Duffin said. “Pace and Gulliver always seem to be in the thick of it, and there seems to be some type of rivalry we have going now. You have two quality teams fighting for the right to go to the state championships. Should be a good one. I know they have seven Division I players. They’re very well coached team, and they’re going battle, but I like to think that we’re equal. We’re going to go out there and battle as well. Should make for a good game.”

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