Rojas K’s 15 as Stoneman Douglas tops Alonso in 7A semi

Story by Jarrett Guthrie, Editor
Photos by Chuck Frye, Senior Staff Writer

FORT MYERS – Alonso found a way to punch back throughout its playoff run, but after Parkland Stoneman Douglas scratched out a first-inning run on a walk and two errors, the Ravens had no counter to the blows dealt from Eagles senior lefty Gio Rojas.

Eagles senior lefty Gio Rojas earned his 12th win of the season with a complete-game shutout to advance Stoneman Douglas to the Class 7A state final for the fifth-straight year.

Rojas was superb on the mound, holding Alonso to one hit while striking out 15 – including four times fanning the side, as MSD booked a spot in Saturday’s Class 7A state final with sights set on a fifth-straight title.

Click here for a few more photos from this game.

“He was the best pitcher we saw all year,” Ravens head coach Landy Faedo said, “no doubt about it. I’m sure his pitch-count was extremely low for someone who struck out double-digit players. He was on.”

Alonso’s Aidan Sansing slides safely into third base in the third inning – it was the closes the Ravens would come to scoring in the loss.

A sentiment likely uttered by Eagles opponents all year, as the win ended Rojas’ senior season with a 12-0 record, a 0.72 ERA and 119 strikeouts.

Stoneman Douglas (30-2) got a leadoff walk to Bennett Gary, who moved up two bases on a fielding error, then scored as the Ravens threw the ball around. From there Rojas took over, striking out the side in the second, working around an Aidan Sansing walk and an error in the third with three more K’s, then repeated the spectacle in the fourth.

Unfortunately for Alonso (21-13), the fourth saw the Eagles put the game well out of reach as four-straight singles and an RBI sac fly extended the lead to four runs.

Ravens junior Julian Batista mixed his pitches well, but allowed four earned runs in four-plus innings, giving up six hits and striking out four. A walk to start the fifth ended his afternoon, but the run would come in on a Drew Freeman sac fly.

MSD’s Cade Raley is congratulated after his fourth-inning RBI single.

Christopher Padilla and Marcelo Diaz each pitched one inning of relief, allowing a walk apiece, but no hits. The lone Alonso hit – a Joshua Abrahante lined single into center moved up Sansing, who reached on a one-out, hit-by-pitch and also had two walks in the game.

Senior Samuel Fernandez threw out two runners for Alonso.

And after the two in the first inning, Alonso played error-free baseball the rest of the game. Ravens senior catcher Samuel Fernandez threw out two runners in the loss, Padilla picked a runner off second, and senior second baseman Bryan Alonso made a tremendous diving snag and throw for an out in the sixth to rob Eagles senior Erick Torres (2-for-3, run) of his third hit of the game.

Joshua Abrahante stands on first base after picking up the Ravens only hit of the game.

Faedo said with their backs against the wall twice in the region playoffs, the Ravens found a way to pick up wins – and hoped his players would find one last bit of magic. But credited his team for fighting all season.

“That’s just this team’s make-up, they just go out and go after it and they know it’s baseball – anything can happen,” the Ravens coach said. “All you need is one great inning to win a game … I just wish we had that opportunity today to do good things on the field.”

Alonso reliever Christopher Padilla.

Stoneman Douglas will take on Jupiter (winners Friday evening, 6-4 over Oviedo Hagerty) in search of its sixth state title and fifth in a row – a mark never accomplished in state history.

Ravens junior RHP Marcelo Diaz