Brito Storms Past Trinity Christian Deltona To 2A Final

State Semifinal Photo Gallery

There is no greater feeling then finding success with the ones you love most.

Playing in the state Final Four for the first time in three years, Miami Brito did what the program is known for. The Panthers jumped to an early lead and never looked back, winning 8-0 over Trinity Christian Deltona to advance to Tuesday’s Class 2A state title game. Brito (20-8) will face Seacrest Country Day at 4:05 PM as the club chases after its sixth state crown in program history.

The Stingrays (21-8) advanced to the title game with a 2-0 victory over Orlando Christian Prep in the other 2A state semifinal Tuesday night.

Making the occasion even more special was the guys in the dugout on Monday. The roster is full of a unique group of players who have come a long way together during their Panthers career. On top of this is a coaching staff that sets the family tone with the love they share for one another. The Panthers play for one another, and it makes for the most special kind of baseball imaginable.

Sitting in the Major League dugout at Fort Myers’ jetBlue Park with his team, Brito Manager Pedro Guerra was lifted even higher by having his coaches there with him. Heading this group was Dave Fanshawe, who previously played for Guerra on the team and was a part of their last championship club, and Laz Fundora, who has been with Brito for many years. Both guys have won games of this magnitude as players and coaches at Brito right alongside Guerra.

“The program has been strong for many years and this was just the continuity of it,” Guerra said. “Both Laz and Dave played at the school and they’ve been around for a while. That makes a huge difference with the kids and the actual program. The experience makes a big difference.”

Fundora returned to the club for the game Monday, after he had spent the season in Orlando for work commitments. His presence only made this magical moment that much more special to every guy on the Brito squad, especially Coach Guerra.

“I care for Laz a lot and he is like a son to me,” Guerra said. “We’ve worked together for many, many years and when we were in the playoffs I wanted him to come back down so he can be a part of this.”

Another player who has been a big part of the Brito legacy and tradition is junior Marco Bolano, who got the start Monday afternoon. The right-hander was backed by an offense that gave him a two-run lead before he ever even toed the rubber, and that was all that Bolano needed. The Panthers ace tossed a complete-game gem, scattering four hits and two walks over his seven full innings.

“I felt great,” Bolano said. “I started throwing strikes and I just had my game out there just throwing strikes and getting guys out. I was just fighting to the last inning and the last out. I was relaxed in the beginning and we had that big lead, and when we had an even bigger lead I was relaxed and felt confident to throw my pitches.”

Bolano pounded the zone to get 71 strikes on his 102 total pitches, leading the way to nine strikeouts on the afternoon.

“Anybody knows in high school baseball if you can command the strike zone with at least one pitch you’re going to be pretty successful,” said Trinity Christian Manager Bryan Maple. “His advantage is being able to keep the ball low and being able to command all of his pitches. Nothing against our guys, but that’s what happens against a young team. You’ve got to rely on instinct as you get older as an athlete and a baseball player and learn to go after that guy.”

It seems like only yesterday that Bolano was that young guy learning the ropes at the varsity level. Now in his fifth season on the squad, Bolano came onto the scene with the Panthers back as a seventh-grader. He is the only member of the ball club who was actually there when they last went to the state championship in 2011.

“It’s now my fifth year and I started out playing in seventh grade playing with Manny Machado on the team,” Bolano reminisced. “It was a great experience playing with him and he is a great player. My first year we made it to states, but unfortunately we lost in the finals. It was a pretty good game and we were four outs away from winning; it’s not over until the last out and the end. Now we just have to come back tomorrow even stronger.”

Bolano’s poise is something the team has come to expect from the polished leader. Yet even with that expectation, the fact that this big game being played on such a massive stage as jetBlue Park still did not affect Bolano’s psyche helped the entire team. It seemed to give the rest of the club just as much confidence that they could stick to their game plan and play it their way.

“I think the fact that he’s been here since seventh grade, and he was obviously put into a big situation in eighth grade coming up to play in states, he had that experience and he has been on that big stage all the time,” said Coach Fanshawe. “Manny was a first-round MLB draft pick and there have always been people watching when he was playing. So Marco has always been around that. He comes out here and he might not show emotion and he keeps his composure pretty well. That’s been part of his game and he’s definitely our workhorse.”

As the visitors on the contest, Brito focused on jumping ahead early to take control. The plan worked perfectly, as leadoff hitter JC Millan worked a leadoff walk. Millan was erased on a fielder’s choice when a grounder from Bolano hit him on the base paths, and Alex Nino then came on as a courtesy runner for Bolano. Savian Fernandez came up next and sent a bouncer deep to the left side for the Panthers’ first base hit, loading the bags in the process. Patience rewarded Brito’s effort from there, as Laz Gonzalez and Onelio Perdomo both worked walks to plate all the runs the team would ultimately need.

“That definitely made a difference in the ball game,” Fundora said of the early lead. “It kind of relaxed our kids, and by the same token it put more pressure on them.”

The Eagles’ pitching continued to struggle with control early on, which led to Millan walking in the second. Bolano reached on an error and Fernandez also walked to push Millan to third, before a wild pitch allowed him to come home and extend the lead.

Bolano faced his biggest threat of the contest in the bottom of the second, after Eric Ortiz and Ryan Corrigan both singled to threaten a rally that could have gotten the Eagles (12-16) right back into the game. A flyout to Millan in center field and a called third strike to the next batter erased the threat and kept Brito in control of all of the momentum.

“It was the kind of game we expected and it was the game we’ve been preparing for all year long,” Guerra said. “With the competition in the close games we’ve been playing, we were really just expecting a ball game like this and we came ready to play.”

Two innings later Brito put things out of reach. Bolano led off the top of the fourth with a single to left field, and once again gave way to Nino to run for him. Fernandez kept things going with another great at-bat, sitting back on an 0-2 offering and driving the ball into right field for a single.

It was an at-bat that exemplified the Panthers’ offensive approach in the game, and it was one of four times that Fernandez reached base on the day.

“He wasn’t pumping it up into the high eighties, so I just tried to stay back on it as much as possible,” Fernandez said. “I tried to find my pitch I could drive and work the opposite way.”

Mauricio Amaral followed with the same solid approach, sitting back on a pitch and lining it into right field for an RBI single that plated Nino. Robert Hernandez came in to run for Amaral, and he moved to second base when Julio Gonzalez dropped down a great bunt single along third base to load the bags. Onelio Perdomo then delivered the knockout blow as he crushed a shot deep to left field, off the Green Monster wall for a two-RBI double.

“I came up to the plate with confidence and I listened to what Coach Dave told me about the approach,” Perdomo said. “I just came out and executed and I am very happy with the outcome.”

The offense just kept piling on from there. Christian Alvarez singled through the right side to score Gonzalez, and Brian Jimenez brought home Perdomo on a sacrifice flyout to right field to complete the scoring.

From there the rest was left to Bolano. The right-hander continued to pound the zone and challenge the hitters, seeming to grow stronger the deeper into the contest he went. Even with the big lead, the Brito coaching staff admitted there was never any thought of pulling their ace and trying to save him for any possibilities for Tuesday’s championship.

“We worry about tomorrow when tomorrow gets here,” Fundora said. “There was no way we were going to pull him out and there was no way he was going to let us take him out either. That was his ball game. Now come tomorrow we’ve got everybody else. There are plenty of guys out here who can throw. If you pull a guy out in that situation and all of the sudden they start creeping back in the game, you are done and you end up throwing more pitchers then you wanted. You go with the guy who got you here and you ride him.”

Like the rest of the Panthers, Bolano did his part on Monday. Now Brito simply needs to do its job as a collective unit one more time this season, and once again the Panthers wil be crowned champions.

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