FORT MYERS – They got over the hump.
For the first time in recent memory, the Palm Beach Gardens baseball team has advanced to the FHSAA State Final Four Series.
The program’s achievement was made possible by a comeback effort from the Gators on Tuesday night, a 3-2 home win over the Park Vista Cobras (23-6 final record) in the Class 7A – Region 3 final.
Head coach Matt Judkins spoke after the game on Tuesday night (May 17) about his team’s amazing accomplishment.
“Last year we lost in heartbreaking fashion,” Judkins said of his team’s season-ending 6-4 walk-off loss to Stoneman Douglas in the 2021 Class 7A – Region 3 final.
“We lost to a team that won the state championship,” the first-year baseball head coach continued. “National champions. Unbelievable team…At the end of that game in our huddle, I said to the guys that want to lock it in, ‘We’re going to get back here. Maybe not on this field. But we’re gonna get back to this situation.”
One could call Judkins a prophet right now.
In the Class 7A State Final Four late last night (May 20-21) against Tampa Plant (23-7 final record), the goal was accomplished by way of the same final score – except that the Gators (22-7) never trailed in the midnight showdown at Lee County’s Hammond Stadium.
The top of the second inning proved to be impactful for Palm Beach Gardens, as Enzo Vertucci (1-for-4, 2 RBI’s) belted a line drive to left field, which sent Blake Mathews (1-for-2, 1 run, 2 walks) AJ Hunerberg (1 run, 1 RBI) to home plate for a 2-0 lead.
Mathews was also the team’s starting pitcher, as he went 5 2/3 innings with four strikeouts, allowing five hits and just two runs total. The versatile junior would go on to be the night’s winning pitcher.
In the top of the fifth, Palm Beach Gardens was up 2-1 but got an insurance run off a sacrifice fly from Hunerberg, which enabled Jayden Hylton to extend his team’s lead to 3-1.
No. 3 overall seed Palm Beach Gardens would go on to earn a 3-2 win and the right for a rematch with No. 1 overall seed and defending Class 7A state champion Stoneman Douglas (29-2).
The 7A state title game will be held tonight (May 21) at Hammond Stadium. The first pitch is set for 7 p.m., weather permitted.
“We’re going to pass the test,” Judkins said. “We’re going to finish the job.”
Judkins challenged this year’s team to overcome outside noise, considering the fact that last year’s team was loaded with Division 1 talent from the likes of Cade Bush (Florida State), Aidan Meola (Oklahoma State), and Dom Presto (FAU), to name just three.
“I challenged them,” Judkins said. “We had some guys leave. A lot seniors. Probably 90 percent of the innings that we lost. But going into this season, a lot of people talked about us rebuilding. I think that’s the dirty word in high school. I think we’re just going to reload and get better.”
Judkins delved even further.
“Why do we have to rebuild? Let’s just get back to where we want to get back to,” Judkins said. “Just finish the job.”
Judkins wants his team to return home from Fort Myers as the most successful one in its illustrious history.
“We want to get our first number up on our Wall of Fame,” Judkins said. “That’s kind of what we talked about too. We got the district championship. A Final Four appearance. Regional appearances. The one thing we’re searching to make this team different than any other team in school history is that 2022 banner. A 2022 number for our first state championship. That’s our goal.”
PHOTO CREDITS: FHSAA
