Dwyer High baseball gets hot at the right time to advance to Class 6A state tournament
Dwyer, which dropped two of its last three regular-season games and entered the postseason with a modest 12-9 record, is Palm Beach County's last hope for a state high school baseball championship.
All of the supposed heavyweights are gone. Palm Beach Gardens and Park Vista, the top two teams in the final Palm Beach Post public-school rankings, both lost heartbreakers to nationally ranked Parkland-Stoneman Douglas. St. John Paul II Academy, the top team in the private school rankings, fell one game short of reaching the state tournament.
In fact, all 10 teams in the final rankings (five public, five private) have packed up their equipment. And Dwyer (18-9), which never cracked the rankings all season, is preparing to play Valrico-Bloomingdale (22-6) at 7 p.m. Friday in the Class 6A semifinals in Fort Myers.
Dwyer's last game:Panthers top Doral Academy behind Drew Jaloski's one-hitter
Last poll:Post reveals final regular-season baseball rankings with districts set to start
Player rankings:Top 10 junior and sophomore high school baseball players in Palm Beach County
Wednesday:Trinity Christian baseball succumbs to small-ball, surrenders late lead in semifinal loss
The Panthers are a classic example of a team that peaked at the right time. Their regular season was a series of ups and downs — a two-week shutdown early in the season because of COVID-19 issues, back-to-back losses by 11-0 and 10-0, then victories over Palm Beach Central, St. John Paul II Academy, Park Vista and Trinity Christian down the stretch.
Since the playoffs began in late April, however, the Panthers have been unbeatable.
As the No. 2 seed in the District 13-6A tournament, they opened with expected victories over Atlantic and West Boca Raton. In the final, they had to go on the road to face state-ranked Martin County, which entered 21-3.
Junior right-hander Drake Flowers, a Florida State commit, pitched a complete game to lead Dwyer to a 6-0 victory. Flowers limited Martin County to two hits, walked one and struck out nine.
That started an amazing postseason run for Flowers and the Panthers. He pitched a three-hit shutout against Cooper City in the regional quarterfinals, then went the final 2 2/3 innings for the save in a 3-2 upset of state-ranked Fort Lauderdale-St. Thomas Aquinas.
Flowers' totals in postseason play: 16 2/3 innings, 6 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 21 strikeouts.
In the regional final against Miami-Dade County powerhouse Doral Academy, coach Alex Morales had Flowers ready to go but never needed him. Senior right-hander Drew Jaloski, making his first start of the postseason, pitched a one-hitter and struck out 15 in a 2-0 victory over the Firebirds.
"Drew didn't want Drake to come in," Morales said, half-joking.
Flowers is expected to start against Bloomingdale, but with the final scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, Morales will need pitching depth to win the title. Jaloski, Jorge DeCardenas and Nick Rovitti all have pitched in pressure situations in the playoffs.
The Panthers have more than just pitching, though. Flowers, who plays the outfield when he isn't on the mound, leads the offense (.390, two homers, 18 RBIs, 12 stolen bases). He has strong support from outfielder Jack Savery (.390, 19 RBIs), first baseman Cody Damon (.313, 15 RBIs) and leadoff hitter Raul Feliz (.333, 25 runs, .532 OBP).
Bloomingdale, from the Tampa Bay area, has a strong 1-2 pitching punch in junior right-hander Jack Owens (8-2, 0.92 ERA, 79 strikeouts), a Stetson commit, and senior left-hander David Eckaus (7-2, 2.09 ERA, 86 strikeouts), an FIU commit. Owens, who has been more effective in the postseason, is expected to start against Dwyer.
The Bulls scored four unearned runs to beat Naples-Gulf Coast 4-3 in the regional final.
In the Panthers win Friday, they will face the winner of Melbourne-Viera (20-6) vs. Orange Park-Fleming Island (24-5) in the championship game.
Class 6A semifinal
Today
Dwyer vs. Valrico-Bloomingdale in Fort Myers, 7 p.m.