SANFORD — It seems apropos that after three weeks of amazing baseball action in the 18th annual FHSI (Florida High School Invitational) it took a walkoff, extra-inning rally for the Champion of “The Challenge” to be crowned Friday evening at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium.
The Highland School from Warrenton, Virginia, won its second FHSI title in dramatic fashion, scoring twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to claim a 6-5 win over American Heritage High School from Plantation in the Florida Collegiate Summer League (FCSL) sponsored event.
After the Stallions scored a run to take the lead in the top of the eighth, the Hawks were down to their final out in the bottom half. With two outs, Joey Rogers tied the game with an RBI double and Brooks Graham won it with an RBI single.
Weston Lillard was the winning pitcher for Highland, tossing three innings without allowing an earned run.
Here are the results:
“The Classic”
Teams - final records
Warrenton, Virginia-Highland School, 3-1; Plantation-American Heritage High School, 2-2; Coral Springs High School, 2-2; Miami-Palmetto High School, 2-2; Pembroke Pines Charter, 2-2; Bradenton-IMG Academy Gold, 1-3.
Monday, March 24
Highland School 7, Miami Palmetto 0.
Coral Springs 8, IMG Gold 1.
American Heritage 11, Pembroke Pines Charter 1.
Tuesday, March 25
Coral Springs 8, Miami Palmetto 6.
American Heritage 4, IMG Gold 3.
Pembroke Pines Charter 3, Highland School 2.
Wednesday, March 26
Off Day.
Thursday, March 27
Pembroke Pines Charter 5, IMG Gold 4.
Miami Palmetto 6, American Heritage 4.
Highland School 11, Coral Springs 1.
Friday, March 28
Miami Palmetto 5, Pembroke Pines Charter 3.
Montverde Academy 10, Coral Springs 7.
IMG Gold 11, Montverde Academy 5.
Championship: Highland School 6, American Heritage 5, 8-innings.
Here are the Award Winners:
Tournament Most Valuable Player:
Danny Farrell - Highland School
Danny Farrell's offense helped propel the Highland School to their second FHSI Championship. Farrell batted .500 across his team's four games on six hits while scoring four runs and driving in two. His 1.288 OPS was second best for the week as half of his hits went for extra bases.
Tournament Most Valuable Pitcher:
Ethan Hudson - Highland School
Ethan Hudson led Highland School on the mound by pitching in two different games. On Monday, Hudson pitched five shut out innings of one-hit baseball against the Palmetto Panthers. He would come back to start the Championship game on Friday and strike out six American Heritage batters over three innings of work. On the week he struck out eight batters in eight innings and allowed one earned run on three hits.
All-Tournament Team:
Position Players
Ryan Guthrie - Coral Springs.
Joey Rogers - Highland School.
Tyler Shindo - IMG Academy Gold.
Danny Farrell - Highland School.
Ryan Ashley - American Heritage.
Isaiah Revuelta - Miami Palmetto.
Justin Summers - Highland School.
Jaxon Krugman - Coral Springs.
Brooks Graham - Highland School.
Ruben Zuany - Coral Springs.
Luis Comella - Coral Springs.
Benjy Cardone - Highland School.
Jack Gordon - Miam Palmetto.
Sebastian Hernandez - Miami Palmetto.
Christian Dixon - Miami Palmetto.
Cade Hudmon - IMG Academy Gold.
Christian Dart - Highland School.
Matt Pace - American Heritage.
Pitchers
Ethan Hudson - Highland School.
Maxim Sotolongo - Miami Palmetto.
Martin Pereira - Pembroke Pines Charter.
Weston Lillard - Highland School.
Brady Snow - American Heritage.
Noah Garfinkel - American Heritage.
Trey Glaser - Pembroke Pines Charter.
Brayden Arrick - Miami Palmetto.
Dean Jaworski - Pembroke Pines Charter.
Rondy Bryant - IMG Academy Gold.
Angelo Painter - Coral Springs.
Kevin Brinkworth - IMG Academy Gold.
Michael Acosta - Miami Palmetto.
Stephen Christopher - Highland School.
Miguel Barajas - IMG Academy Gold.
2-Way Players
Eric Molina - Pembroke Pines Charter.
Evan Fernandez - American Heritage.
