Exploring Excellence: Columbus Wins 8A State Crown

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Columbus Manager Joe Weber has never seen a team quite like his 2015 squad. The players work as hard as any he’s had, are close friends like no other and they have an uncanny ability to handle any adversity. It is a talented group with lots of fire, passion and respect for baseball. They did everything they have ever been asked and have sacrificed all for the guys beside them.

Now this special bunch of players are state champions. A day after surviving an incredible battle with Park Vista, Columbus ran away with it in the Class 8A state championship. The Explorers took control in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back, downing Orange Park University 10-1 at jetBlue Park in Fort Myers to earn the title.

It is the second state championship for the Explorers (27-5), but also their first in Class 8A. The program won it all in Class 6A back in 2003, and Columbus also finished as the state runners-up in 2009 and 2012.

“This is my second one, and it was a long time coming,” Weber said. “From 2003 to 2015, I have been chasing it for 12 years. But the difference was that in the first one I felt great and the team felt great. But I really wanted the kids to experience this one, and they did and they are enjoying it. It’s just been an unbelievable year. From where we came, what we lost the previous year and the amount of work that they put in, it is amazing that we are standing here today. I am very proud of all of them. The administration that backs us and the fans that come out to support us have helped to make it a great year, and I am just so happy for the kids.”

Since both the team’s top two pitchers saw action on the mound in Wednesday’s semifinal, the club turned to left-handed senior Alain Santana to toe the rubber in the last crucial battle. Making just his fifth start of the season, the southpaw seized his moment to go the distance for the victory. Santana did not allow a hit until University’s Nathan Peden lined a two-out double into right field in the top of the fifth, and he allowed only two hits the entire way, both to Peden.

“I think the opportunity came and I took advantage of that opportunity,” Santana said. “I wanted it from the start and we were not coming out of here with second place. The game plan from the start was to work to opposite field; make these guys use the whole field, because I trust my defense. This is the number one defense in the whole state. They have got my back, I believe in them and I trust them. This win hasn’t even hit me yet, because if it had I would be crying right now.”

Santana proved his ability to succeed in big games by pitching the team to victories in both the GMAC championship and the District 8A-15 championship. Although he had rarely been called into action on the bump this season, the entire team had all the faith in the world that he could shut down any offense.

“We knew he had it in him,” senior third baseman Jackie Urbaez said. “When he threw against Killian in the GMAC final he threw a one-hitter out of nowhere, after not pitching for two months. He is just an athlete and words cannot describe how good of a player he is. He is well-rounded.”

The poised veteran pounded the strike zone on 61 of his 93 pitches and forced the Titans (18-14) to put the ball in play for his defense. Early on that game plan did not go as well as planned, as the defense made three uncharacteristic errors in the first inning to allow an unearned run and quickly fall into a 1-0 hole. This prompted an early mound visit from Weber to help settle them down, and they responded by turning a pretty 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

“It was so unlike us to make an error like that, and then to make three errors in one inning I just started shaking my head,” Weber recalled. “I went out there and told them, ‘Guys, this isn’t you. You just need to relax. You belong here, you deserve this and play your game’. It was huge getting the ground-ball double play that got us out of the inning, and then tacking on a run in the bottom of the first so we evened everything out. We could breathe again and then we started playing our game again.”

While the team did not panic over a small deficit in the first inning, the players had great approaches with their first at bats to answer back and grab the momentum. Dominick Reyes lined a one-out single to center in the bottom of the first, and then made it to third on a throwing error after Santana grounded out to first. Urbaez jumped on a 1-0 offering and lined it into center field to drive Reyes in and even the score at a run apiece.

“It was probably the game changer right there as soon as we scored the first run,” Urbaez said. “You could tell that everybody had been nervous about what could happen and if they were going to get ahead. Congrats to Dominick for getting on base and then moving over and letting me take him in. It is a team game and not a personal thing, and everybody works for everybody. But when I got that base hit it helped everybody relax.”

Having proven to their opponents that one run would not be enough to beat them, the Explorers dug in and went to work taking control of the game. They added three more runs in the second to take a lead they would never surrender, and then put things out of reach with a huge six-run fourth inning.

“That first inning our nerves were all running and we were all really hyped up,” senior Danny Casals admitted. “We got together and we calmed down, and we knew we had a great pitcher who threw three championship games and won them all. We knew if we just do what we did all year we would come out with a victory.”

Mike Navarette supplied the decisive runs in the second. Nick Rocha singled to left field and Jose Machado reached on an error to start off the frame. Chris Vinson laid down a great sacrifice bunt to advance both runners and bring Navarette to the plate. The second baseman jumped on the first pitch he got and sent a flare into right field to bring both runners home. Casals followed with a shot that ricocheted off third base and into the left corner to allow Navarette to come around and increase the lead to 4-1.

Two innings later the Explorers erupted for one last big inning. Machado reached on an error and Vinson walked to push him into scoring position. Casals drove Machado home with an RBI single through the left side of the infield defense, and both he and Vinson next scored when Reyes reached on another error. Santana capped his big night off by following with a liner over first base that bounced away from the outfielder and rolled deep to the right field corner. Santana charged hard out of the box and didn’t stop until he had come all the way around the bases for a two-run, inside-the-park home run.

Columbus added one more run as Urbaez and Gabe Rivera both walked and advanced on a passed ball, and Rocha supplied a sac-fly RBI that easily allowed Urbaez to slide into home for the final run of the contest.

“It was nice not to get another one-run game,” Weber admitted, after the team has survived four straight one-run decisions during this playoff run. “It was great to be in a game where we had a little breathing room. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves with that big of a lead, and I thought Santana was special tonight as well.”

It was a special night for the entire Columbus baseball community, and a fitting way to close out the 2015 baseball season. In joining Miami Brito and Westminster Christian as fellow state champions this year, to also go along with a state-record four Miami champions last season, the clubs helped show the strength of high school baseball in South Florida. These teams proved what hard work and passionate play can reward, and how believing in something helps fuel the drive to go out and make it happen.

For Weber, hard work has always been the staple for his program. This 2015 group never shied away from the dedication and preparation it took to bring them to this glorious conclusion, and it is a bunch that have forever cemented their place in Columbus history.

“You couldn’t have asked for a better group the way they worked all year,” Weber said of his guys. “When I say all year, I don’t just mean the baseball year. It includes in the weight room, and the summer ball and the fall ball. It was a great year.”

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