First Academy baseball wins first FHSAA state championship

FORT MYERS — When a team playing for its first state baseball championship is facing a foe that has won 11 titles in the past 40 years, it would be expected that the squad with less state tourney experience would be the one that crumbles at some point.

Not Tuesday.

The First Academy of Orlando capped a 30-1 season with a 3-0 victory over tradition-rich Miami Westminster Christian in the FHSAA Class 3A state final at Hammond Stadium.

After threatening throughout the game, the Royals scored three times in the top of the seventh inning as it took advantage of Westminster Christian’s generosity. All four of the Warriors’ errors came in the seventh.

TFA pitcher Ben Barrett then shut the Warriors (23-8) down in the bottom half to complete the four-hit shutout.

“We came with a vision,” TFA coach Scott Grove said. “We dreamed about something and we made it happen. It’s great for the school with how close-knit our school is. The turnout we got the last two games has been amazing. It seemed like the whole athletic department was here.”

Catcher Riley Parker added, “We worked hard all season, it’s good to see it pay off.”

TFA culminated the season with its 22nd consecutive victory since it suffered its only loss, a 5-4 defeat against Bishop Moore that went nine innings on March 24. The Royals had nine shutouts in the winning streak and 14 for the season.

The championship in baseball is a first for TFA and the Royals set a school record for wins in a season.

The title is also a breakthrough for Grove, who had come close to capturing FHSAA state championships before. His 2000 Colonial team was a state runner-up and he coached two Timber Creek teams that made final four appearances in 2010 and 2012.

Grove is in his eighth year at TFA and 23rd season as a head coach and is closing in on 500 career victories.

Westminster Christian coach Emil Castellanos said the seventh-inning mistakes were tough to watch.

“It was very odd to see that,” he said. “We had played stellar defense. Just one bad inning. But my hat goes off to (First Academy). Their pitcher pitched a great game. Our hitters barreled up on a lot of balls but they were caught.”

With his curveball not working early, Barrett went to the bullpen after the first inning to work out the kinks.

“Slowly but surely, I got more of a feel with it,” said the right-hander, who will attend Florida State. “I mixed fastballs and curves because I knew they had great hitters. I worked the curve a lot with their first and third hitters. After the top of the third, I stayed with it.”

Only in the sixth did he allow two base runners. He walked two and struck out seven.

TFA put runners on second and third in the second inning, had the bases loaded in the third and saw Barrett reach third in the sixth — all without scoring.

“It was a little frustrating but I knew the team would come through,” Barrett said. “I had faith in them.”

That faith was rewarded in the seventh.

First baseman Trent Kelly led off with a single. Matt Perez then sacrificed, his bunt hugging the first base line. Westminster Christian pitcher Cristian Mejia picked the ball up and threw over the head of first baseman Raenire Benitez, allowing Kelly to race to third.

“The first two pitches, I didn’t like,” said Perez, who said he had struggled bunting as of late. “They took the sign off but I trusted myself. I was a bit surprised, I thought the pitcher would let it go. The first baseman told him to let it go.”

Perez stole second; and after a strikeout, lead-off hitter Greg Pettay hit a hard grounder that went under the glove of Westminster shortstop Rene Ramirez. After Kelly scored, Perez also was awarded home plate because of obstruction.

Pettay then stole second, went to third on a groundout and scored on an error by second baseman Christian Bosque.

From there, Barrett took care of business.

“It’s been so fun being around these guys,” Grove said. “I want to stay in touch with them. I want to go to their weddings.”

There will be a lot to celebrate.

This report was first published at OrlandoSentinel.com. Varsity Content Editor Buddy Collings can be reached by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.