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Armwood, Plant fall short of baseball destiny

Photo by SCOTT PURKS

Armwood catcher Josh Spano (top) tags out Chiles shortstop Sean Poole trying to steal home in the pivotal fifth inning.

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 26, 2009

PORT ST. LUCIE - It was going to be a dream matchup, that rarest of animals - two high school teams from the same county, the same school district, competing for a state baseball championship on Tuesday night.

Throw in the fact that it was Plant and Armwood. Maybe, for one night at least, the schools' heated football rivalry would take a back seat.

Then something happened.

Monday happened.

In the blink of an eye, in the blink of two baseball games, two baseball seasons ended in the Class 5A semifinals at Tradition Field.

Armwood went down ugly in the afternoon, 4-2 in a way-too-wild one against Tallahassee Chiles. It was a game filled with Armwood's physical and mental mistakes, and one large error of emotion.

The final out was Armwood pinch runner Brandon Hickman getting picked off third with the tying runs on base. And that wasn't even the biggest mistake. The Hawks trudged away from their first trip to the final four.

Sophomore catcher Josh Spano had his head down. The fifth-inning run he scored was wiped out because, in the heat of the moment, he threw an elbow as he crashed and bashed the Chiles catcher who was illegally blocking the plate. No matter. Spano was tossed from the game after his mistake. Even if Armwood had won, he would have missed the title game. But there will be no title shot.

Plant trudged away late Monday night after a 5-2 loss to Stuart South Fork. For every class and every champion at state, there are three teams that take a long bus ride home.

In Plant's case, they went with their ace, senior Mychal Givens, one of the top prep pitching prospects in America, and he pitched his heart out, striking out 11 with his plus-90 fastballs, pitch after pitch, until he had nothing left to give, and South Fork, 5A runner-up last season, put three runs across in the bottom of the sixth inning. That was that.

"We fought all year, but we just didn't have enough," Plant shortstop Graham Ramos said. "We'll talk about this game for a long time."

Armwood picked the worst time of the season to play maybe their worst game. Starting pitcher Robert Benincasa, spectacular all season, wasn't sharp. Two costly errors didn't help him and paved the way for four Chiles runs in the third. The Hawks were horrible on the bases, too. They were picked off, they ran into outs, and in the bottom of the fifth, into trouble.

It started in the top of the fifth inning. Chiles shortstop Sean Poole tried to steal home. Spano tagged him right in the mouth. A good, hard play, so hard that Poole lost half a tooth on the play. Poole came back at Spano, Spano threw down his glove. They both should have been tossed, then and there. They weren't. The umpiring crew let it get out of hand - and it did in the bottom of the inning.

Armwood, down 4-1, had runners on first and second with one out. Spano was the runner on second. Hawks designated hitter Tanner Emmons doubled to left center. Spano was home free, no way there would be a play, but Chiles catcher Taylor Anders stepped up to block the plate without the ball. What happened next was bound to happen.

Spano drove an elbow into Anders, who went flying and briefly blacked out. Spano was ejected, his run was taken off the board and he was ruled the inning's second out. But Anders should have been thrown out for obstruction. So should the players from both sides who crashed the field looking for trouble. It was a mess.

"I didn't like the way it was handled," Armwood coach Mike Wrenn said.

But Spanos' demolition derby knocked the stuffing out of the inning. The next Armwood batter struck out.

The Hawks took too many chances and it cost them. How many times have you ever heard of someone getting picked off third to lose a state semifinal? That's no way for any team to go.

"It wasn't good. Let's just say that," Wrenn said. At one point, some of his players entered the interview room. He waved them off. You couldn't blame him. His kids trudged to the bus.

It went no better for Plant in Monday's late game. When you win at state, it doesn't matter how or why. When you lose, it doesn't matter how or why, either.

It doesn't matter that Plant fought back from 2-0 down to tie it when left fielder Mike Demo tripled and then came home on a balk. Two runs were an accomplishment in and of itself, since South Fork had outscored opponents 38-0 across four regional tournament games.

"We were going to battle," Givens said.

But they couldn't bunch their hits together against South Fork left-hander Tyson Young, who used a great changeup to keep the Panthers batters off balance.

"We just couldn't break through," Ramos said.

In the bottom of the sixth, South Fork broke through. Givens had thrown a ton of pitches in monstrous, steamy heat. Plant head coach Dennis Braun didn't second guess his decision to leave Givens in. Well, not a lot, anyway.

"Hindsight is always there," Braun said. "He had made a lot of pitches and it was hot. I could have taken him out, but I decided to leave him in there."

Ramos remained adamant after the game.

"Mychal has always been the big man for us," he said. They've known each other since third grade. Same goes for Panthers right fielder Jake Lowe. "We all grew up together … and [Mychal] has always been the guy. He deserved the chance tonight."

A walk. A single through the third base hole. An RBI single up the middle. A two-run double to the gap.

"I thought I got squeezed a little by the umpire," Givens said. "But they got through against me."

Givens struck out the final batter he faced in his high school career. And in the top of the seventh, he made the game's final out, on a hot shot the South Fork third baseman grabbed and gunned to first. South Fork celebrated. Plant walked toward its dugout.

"I'm so proud of how far we came, but we just didn't make it as far as we want," Ramos said.

There's only one happy champion per class at state.

"That's just the way it is," Ramos said.

The Armwood Hawks and Plant Panthers arrived with big dreams. They left two wins short of them.

After Armwood had lost, Chiles coaches and players gathered near a stadium exit. Chiles players asked what was next.

"We're going to Outback," Chiles head coach Greg Jones said. His kids roared.

The Armwood bus, now fully loaded, slowly pulled away.

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