Suwannee baseball carries 15-game winning streak into FHSAA Class 4A baseball semifinals

As Suwannee baseball coach Justin Bruce looks ahead to the 2022 state baseball championship, he looks back at a lesson from his first final four visit three years ago.

Never, ever, take it for granted.

"You look back and think about what an awesome accomplishment this is," Bruce said. "It's not every year you're able to do this."

Suwannee carries a 15-game winning streak down to Fort Myers, where they take on Cape Coral Island Coast in the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 4A baseball semifinal. The first pitch is 4 p.m. Monday at Hammond Stadium. 

They've racked up a 24-4 record, and earned the No. 1 overall seed in Class 5A, using Bruce's tried and tested blueprint: with discipline, with faith and with team spirit.

For Bruce, the foundation for victory in 2022 was paved during the Bulldogs' unexpected final four run in 2019.

On that occasion, Suwannee won a pair of early-round upsets against future major college pitchers: 4-2 against Bishop Kenny, with future Florida signee Colby Halter on the hill, and then 3-1 against Bolles, which used both Hunter Barco (Florida) and Jackson Baumeister (Florida State). Their run finally ended in the state semifinal against Melbourne Central Catholic and Nick Durgin, a first-team All-ASUN selection at Stetson.

The Bulldogs' run that year, Bruce said, energized the Live Oak baseball scene and inspired today's wave of Suwannee players.

"Those were overwhelming arms [on Suwannee's opponents], but we were able to win... it allowed all those other kids to believe that they could do it too," he said. "It's always impossible until you do it."

For this year's team, Suwannee started effectively enough in March (a 9-4 record) but really caught fire beginning in April. Since losing to Tallahassee Chiles on March 30, they haven't gone down again.

Bruce pointed to a pair of extra-inning games in March, victories over Episcopal and Lynn Haven Mosley, with building Suwannee's confidence.

"We had a ton of adversity and we gained a lot of confidence in those games, whenever we gave up the lead or got tied late in the game but still kept coming back," he said.

Bruce was already expecting a productive year from the Suwannee batting order, and it has delivered. The Bulldogs are batting .334 as a team, led by Josh Fernald (.357, 5 2B, 3 HR, 21 RBI, 1.076 OPS), Matthew Gill (.457, 11 2B, 2 HR, 30 RBI, 1.132 OPS), Peyton Waters (.392, 8 2B, 5 HR, 29 RBI, 1.219 OPS).

The surprise has been the pitching staff. Gill (4-1, 2.38) and Fernald (7-1, 2.96) have handled the greater part of the pitching workload, while Bruce also points to the important contributions of senior Tyson Robinson (4-0, 2.06) in his return from previous injuries.

"I believe in every arm that we've got," Bruce said.

The big difference from 2019 for Suwannee, though: Three years ago, the Bulldogs fought through the playoffs as the underdogs. This May, they're ranked No. 1 in Class 4A.

The Bulldogs aren't taking the final four for granted. But this time, they're planning to use the lessons from 2019 to bring home a trophy in 2022.

"Stay with your approach, play within yourself and do what got you there," Bruce said. "The team that does that the best is usually the one that's going to win."

CLASS 4A STATE SEMIFINAL

Suwannee (24-4) vs. Cape Coral Island Coast (22-7)

4 p.m. Monday

Hammond Stadium, Fort Myers

High-scoring baseball to come? Suwannee's lineup is averaging 8.1 runs each time out, and they've won their last 15 games. On the other side, the Gators can win shootouts, batting .320 as a team with 26 home runs and an average of 7.75 runs per game. Top contributors with the bat are Kevin Martinez (.471, 9 2B, 2 HR, 22 RBI), Jake Mueller (.457, 7 2B, 7 HR, 29 RBI), Emilio Gonzalez (.439, 8 2B, 6 HR, 32 RBI) and Eddie Boe Rodriguez (.333, 8 2B, 4 HR, 14 RBI). Martinez doubles as the pitching ace, at 10-1 with a 1.18 ERA and 77 strikeouts to only 11 walks. The winner would advance to the championship game at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Jensen Beach or Dunedin.

Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.