Two-out, two-run homer by Lorenzo Laurel sends Stoneman Douglas back to state playoffs

Miami Herald

09-05-2025

Championship-caliber teams find a way.
No matter the odds. No matter the situation. When pushed, the great ones deliver.
If there were any questions about the resolve of the Stoneman Douglas Eagles baseball team, what transpired in the seventh inning on Thursday night showed why they are a national powerhouse.
Down to their final out, Lorenzo Laurel connected on a two-run home run that lifted the Eagles to an 8-7 walk-off victory against West Broward at Anthony Rizzo Field.
Laurel's heroics capped a four-run seventh inning, which gave the four-time defending state champions another Class 7A regional championship, and a berth in the state playoffs next week in Fort Myers.
Douglas (29-2) has remained undefeated in the postseason, and the Eagles have won 12 straight.
'These guys have got the heart of a champion, man,' Douglas coach Todd Fitz-Gerald said.
On Thursday, both Broward County teams showed tremendous heart.
Douglas scored twice in the first and second innings, taking a 4-0 against West Broward starter Braden 'Ace' Aguila, who settled and gave his team 4 1/3 innings.
For Douglas, Daniel Tartaglia worked 4 2/3 innings, and gave up two runs, before being replaced by another left-hander Breylynn Courtney.
In the fourth inning, the Bobcats (21-14) chipped back with RBI hits from Reggie Rodriguez and Anthony Sanchez.
West Broward pulled ahead in the sixth inning on Ethan Lindor's grand slam. Suddenly, the Bobcats were up by two, and they added an insurance run in the seventh inning. Manuel Sarcos doubles and Isaiah DelValle had an RBI single.
'That one run, I thought, was going to bite us,' Fitz-Gerald said.
It was a big run, because it gave West Broward a 7-4 lead.
Had Douglas not rallied, Game 3 would have been scheduled for Saturday at West Broward.
'None of us wanted to get to Saturday,' Fitz-Gerald said.
The Eagles' offense quickly responded in the seventh inning.
Gio Rojas led off with a single against relieve Angel Figueroa. Nick Diaz followed with a single, and Douglas had runners on the corners. Adrian Bermudez took over on the mound.
A wild pitch plated a run for Douglas. And the Eagles made it a one-run game when Michael Ossenfort reached on an error, with another run scoring on the play.
Bermudez settled and recorded back-to-back strikeouts, bringing up Laurel.
The junior, who is committed to Florida, took a strike before crushing the walk-off homer, which sent the ballpark into a frenzy of celebrating players and fans.
'Lorenzo Laurel has the propensity to come up big,' Fitz-Gerald said. 'I couldn't be happier for him.'
The loss was a tough one for West Broward, a team that has repeatedly found a way to advance in the best-of-three regionals. In the quarterfinals and semifinals, the Bobcats lost the first game but rallied to win the next two, and ultimately won their respective series with Southwest, and Columbus.
'[They're] a well coached team,' Fitz-Gerald said of the Bobcats. 'Young. They're going to be back.'
Douglas' walk-off heroics brought back memories of 2022, when in a similar situation in a playoff game, Santiago Ordonez hit a game-winning home run, also to left field.
'Sometimes you're a team of destiny, or are destined to be here,' Fitz-Gerald said. 'The resolve.'
For Stoneman Douglas and the Parkland community, the Eagles advancing to another state playoffs is another opportunity to pay tribute to those tragically lost in the 2018 school shooting.
'For the community,' Fitz-Gerald said. 'Again, we honor the 17 every night that we play, especially here. There's something special about this place. I just think we have angels on our back. I really believe that.
'I try to live the good life. I try to be a great dad, husband, father. These kids give it to us every day. I couldn't be more proud of them.'