Stoneman Douglas’ baseball team just punctuated their dominant season in possibly the most fitting way: hitting a walk-off home run to mercy rule Palm Beach Gardens and be crowned 7A state champions for the second straight year.
Eagles starting pitcher Chris Arroyo crushed a three-run homer out of the ballpark in the bottom of the fifth inning to cap a 10-0 victory in Fort Myers on Saturday night. The blowout win in the weather-delayed final gave Stoneman Douglas back-to-back state championships after the 2021 triumph over Spruce Creek.
Arroyo also threw seven strikeouts in his five innings on the mound, but it was the Eagles’ hitting that stole the show. Todd Fitz-Gerald’s team raced out to a commanding lead, using a Jake Clemente home run to deep left to get on the board in the bottom of the second before scoring five more runs an inning later.
Santiago Ordoñez got that third-inning fun started with an RBI base hit before Fitz-Gerald turned to one of the Eagles’ go-to plays. The coach had Christian Rodriguez serve as a decoy that attempted to steal second, distracting the Gators long enough to allow pinch runner Alex Rodriguez to race home from third.
Clemente made it 4-0 with his second RBI of the night when he hit a ball to right field that Palm Beach Gardens outfielder Blake Mathews misplayed, and the final two RBIs of the inning were tacked on by Niko Benestad and Rylan Lujo.
Palm Beach Gardens’ starting pitcher Robert Throop lasted just two and ? innings in a rough final game of his high school career, surrendering the first six runs before being replaced on the bump by Enzo Vertucci.
The Eagles’ bats cooled off initially cooled off against the new arm, but heated up again in the fifth. Roman Anthony made it 7-0 with a sacrifice fly before Arroyo went deep in the next at bat to enact the mercy rule and scenes of championship euphoria for the Eagles.
