South Walton Dethrones Miami Springs To Return To 3A Final

The Seahawks moved on past Miami Springs with a 6-2 win that puts them back in the state championship.

The South Walton Seahawks are ready for today to be their time.

Over the past several years this program has been stomping the grounds at the state tournament in search of its first championship. After falling in the title game each of the last two seasons, South Walton turned the page on Wednesday afternoon by unseating the defending-champion Miami Springs Hawks with a 6-2 victory in the Class 3A state semifinal, at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.

“It’s been a long 365 days in preparation for this opportunity,” South Walton Manager Nick Borthwick said. “I’m proud of my team and how they handled the adversity. Miami Springs was a very formidable opponent. They’re tough, they battled the whole way, and just hat’s off to the Seahawks for finding a way to win that game. We knew what we were up against after facing them last year, and to see the fight in our guys to hold on and finish was very impressive. I’m proud of my team’s resilience and for bouncing back after that tough loss last year.”

The Seahawks (29-4) earned an unprecedented third straight appearance in the state final, where they will take on the North Broward Prep Eagles in Thursday’s 3A championship. North Broward (25-7) won 4-0 over the South Sumter Raiders in the other 3A semifinal on Wednesday, as the Eagles advance to their fifth title game in the past six years, after playing in four straight with three titles beginning with their first crown back in the 2021 season.

The Seahawks grabbed the lead to take control in the bottom of the second. Declan Fowler walked and Carter Hawk ripped a single into left field to put some ducks on the pond. Hudson Quinn sent a high chopper up the middle for an RBI single and a 1-0 lead, and Nathan Whitney added a two-RBI single on a grounder through the middle of the defense.

South Walton tacked on another run in the third. Parker Granse reached on an infield bunt single, stole second and then advanced to third thanks to a sac bunt from Justin Didier. Fowler then dropped down a squeeze bunt on a 1-0 offering that left the defense with no chance of stopping Granse from scoring to make it a 4-0 advantage.

Miami Springs responded with a pair of runs to get back into the contest. Taylor Ancheta and Esaul Pena had back-to-back singles leading off the top of the fifth, and Eisler Piloto got the Hawks on the scoreboard with an RBI single to left.

Yordan Torres and Matthew Munoz were then both hit by a pitch to start the sixth, bringing the tying run to the plate and prompting a second call to the bullpen. Ancheta next connected for an infield grounder that drove in Torres and had Munoz ninety feet away from following him in.

But reliever Parker Granse got back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the inning and limit the damage.

The senior left-hander is new to the team this season and therefore had not experienced the pressure of playing on the grand stage of the state Final Four before like most of his teammates have. But Granse has been trusted heavily throughout the year when the pressure was the highest, as this was his 12th relief appearance of the season.

“Earlier in the season when we’ve been in tight games I’ve been lucky to go into those situations,” Granse said. “But I’ve learned a lot in those situations and ultimately it came out today and it showed. I don’t really think about anything when I pitch, I just try to throw strikes and let my defense play.”

Granse earned the save with two scoreless innings that closed out the tough win. He allowed two walks and had four strikeouts.

The Seahawks also answered back immediately to get both those runs right back in the bottom of the sixth. Fowler led off with a single to center and then advanced into scoring position off a sac bunt from Hawk, and Jace Cunningham served an RBI double down the right field line. Starting pitcher Coleman Borthwick then capped it off with an RBI single on a hard grounder through the left side.

Coleman Borthwick made the start and earned the win for the Seahawks.

Coleman Borthwick has been a dominant force on the mound all throughout his career, and especially this season. But pitching on short rest against a team that he admitted was probably the best contact-hitting group he has faced all year was his most challenging test of the season. Miami Springs really made him work and throw pitches, and they connected for a season-high seven hits against him. But they also had very little to show for it against him on the scoreboard.

“They drove Coleman’s pitch count up with good at bats,” Coach Borthwick said. “That’s probably the highest his pitch count was this early in a game all year, and you have to give them credit for good at bats. We had runners on in several innings and were able to hold them and didn’t give up any runs there early.”

Coleman allowed just one earned run in five full innings. He struck out 11 to raise his season total to 121, and he finishes with 335 career strikeouts overall.

With the pitching responsibilities on to the entire rest of the pitching staff, with even Granse still eligible to return and pitch, Coleman can now focus on his contributions with the stick in the title game. Like the rest of the team, this is the moment they all have waited for.

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