State bound! John Carroll Catholic baseball hangs on late to clinch 3A Final Four berth

The toughest outs in baseball are always the final three.

For John Carroll Catholic, that rang true on Tuesday night.

Getting to the finish line was bumpy but the Rams fended off a final rally, defeating St. John Paul II Academy 2-1 at Lawnwood Stadium to advance to the 3A Final Four.

John Carroll starting pitcher Braden Calise carried a shutout into the seventh but needed to work around two errors while watching a 2-0 lead cut in half when Eagles first baseman Kevin Freshcorn lined an RBI single to left with two outs.

With the tying run on second base, Calise got Vincent Carignan to hit a fly ball to senior left fielder Gavin Nagy, who put it away to spark a wild celebration.

“With this team, what better way to end it with the tying run on base. We made it very, very interesting,” Rams head coach Dave Parra said. “We put our schedule out the whole week this week and to show the kids how much confidence we had in them, we put the whole week leading to Sunday leaving on the bus for Fort Myers. Tonight, we put dogpile at 8:45 and we did it at 8:48. It wasn’t an option, winning was what we were doing tonight.”

All night, neither Calise nor Eagles starting pitcher Gavin Adams made it easy for any hitter in the batters box, but in the sixth, Florida signee Jay Allen delivered the most important hit of his career.

Leading 1-0, the Rams star scorched a triple to deep left center to lead off the inning, setting up a potential insurance run.

“Going up there, I just thought about being a good leadoff hitter for my team, so getting on anyway I can," Allen said. "He just left one middle third and I did something with it and it was a great moment.”

Against a drawn-in infield, Calise hit a ground ball to shortstop Ryan Shiflet, who threw low in the dirt to first and the ball bounced to the fence, allowing Allen to score to make it 2-0.

Brilliant pitching dominated the game as John Carroll mustered only three hits and St. John Paul had only two off Calise.

As it has for most of the season, the top of the Rams lineup rose to the occasion against a tough pitcher at the right time to score first.

In the third inning, leadoff hitter Matt Correa drew a walk and stole second with one out.

Calise, the team leader in RBIs entering the night added to his tally as he bounced a ball into left field and Correa slid in safe on a close play at the plate to put John Carroll ahead 1-0.

Even with the slightest of leads, it allowed Calise to shine. The senior delivered in a big spot again.

“I felt good on the mound, I found my pitches, I was locating and everything was falling in for strikes and I was getting calls and it was just a great night,” Calise said. “Once I found a rhythm, there was no slowing me down.”

Calise finished with nine strikeouts.

John Carroll won't learn who their opponent will be in the 3A state semifinals at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers until Wednesday night.

Miami Westminster Christian, who the Rams lost to 1-0 on March 11 without Calise in the lineup, takes on Hialeah Educational Academy, with the winner to play John Carroll at 1 p.m. on May 24.

With a senior-laded group that Parra has worked with at John Carroll and in the travel ball circles, witnessing the elation of his team Tuesday was a moment he'll take with him for the rest of his life.

"What these guys have done this year is incredible," Parra said. "I know there's a lot of programs and coaching staffs that never get this opportunity to go to a Final Four. We are very excited to go represent our school and area over there next week, we can't be more excited. The road wasn't easy, but that's why you do this for these moments right here."