WESLEY CHAPEL — After losing its district final and going to the deciding game in three straight 2-of-3 postseason series, the Wesley Chapel baseball team finally gave coach Tripp Merrell a chance to catch his breath.
The Wildcats scored seven runs in the first two innings and cruised to an 8-2 victory over River Ridge on May 10 in New Port Richey, winning the region championship and a spot in the Class 5A state semifinals for the second consecutive year.
The Wildcats (18-14) will play Tallahassee Lincoln (24-10) in one semifinal 10 a.m. Thursday, May 15, at Hammond Stadium at the Lee Health Sports Development in Fort Myers.
The other semifinal matches up Mater Academy Charter (23-9-1) out of Hialeah against Fort Myers (22-11). The semifinal winners play Saturday at 11 a.m. for the state championship.
The Wildcats took the long way back to state, and it has prepared them well for must-win situations.
They knocked off Daytona Beach Seabreeze 2-1 in the first round, dropping the first game against top-seed Winter Springs to beat the Bears 2-1 in the second round, and winning a decisive do-or-die game to knock off River.
And Merrell wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I never had more fun coaching baseball than this year’s postseason,” Merrell said.
The journey has been made more remarkable by the absence of the team’s two best players, Mills Carrillo and Sean Roche, who were injured prior to districts.
But in Saturday’s win, the Wildcats received contributions from every player. All nine starters had at least one hit, and senior pitcher Chase Flemming (4-0) turned in a complete game gem, scattering seven hits and striking out two in the win.
Merrell said at the beginning of the season he liked that the Florida High School Athletic Association was bringing back the best 2-of-3 format, especially since he knew he had a deep staff.
And sure enough, Flemming, one of only two seniors on the roster, proved the coach right.
The team had three do-or-die games the past three Saturdays, and Flemming started each one. He beat Seabreeze 6-2, didn’t get a decision against Winter Springs but tossed three strong innings against Winter Springs, and kept the Knights at bay in the clincher.
“He was really good,” said Merrell. “You know, it’s one of those things where it’s been his postseason. It’s been Flemming on Saturday for three weeks.”
He had plenty of help in the finale.
The first five batters — Dylan Pabon, Nolan Hartley, Zorre Wright, Cole Ranchel and JoJo Guevara — all delivered hits to start the game. Wright’s single scored Pabon to make it 1-0, and Ranchel followed with a run-scoring double. Guevara ripped a single to center to make it 3-0.
Bryce Flemming and Pabon led off the second inning with hits, and Bryce Flemming eventually scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-0. After Wright was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Guevara scored Pabon and Hartley to make it 7-0.
After two innings, a return to state was in sight.
“In the second inning, I gathered them, and told them to keep stepping on the gas pedal,” Merrell said. “I didn’t really have to even do that. I just wanted to make sure they stayed focused and stayed locked in. But in reality, they were, they were that way the whole time.”
Wright, who was 0-for-16 in the postseason heading into the River Ridge series, was 4-for-9 with three RBI in the three games against the Royal Knights. He smashed a fifth-inning home run to cap the Wildcats scoring.
Merrell said the season was a “rollercoaster,” but the biggest thrill is yet to come.
In the preseason, he said the 2-of-3 format would benefit his team, and so would a stout schedule that included a number of playoff teams. He said it would toughen the Wildcats up, and their work ethic, which he continues to praise, would do the rest.
Sure enough, when those high-pressure moments arrived, the Wildcats delivered, just like the coach thought they would.
“They know when it’s go time,” Merrell said. “The win or go home, those type of scenarios, is when they are as focused as can be. They like to show up when it’s time, when it matters most.”
And it won’t matter more than this week.