Baseball: Class 7A state final preview — May 24

State Semifinals

All games are played at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers. Tickets are $12 and are available via GoFan. Parking is $10 for cars and $50 for buses (cash or credit card).  

Class 7A

Plant (21-7) vs. Parkland Stoneman Douglas (28-0), 5 p.m., today

How they got here: Plant d. Sarasota 14-2, d. Lakewood Ranch 7-0, d. Windermere 1-0, d. Lake Worth Park Vista 5-4. Stoneman Douglas d. Coconut Creek Monarch 14-0, d. Coral Springs Taravella 13-3, d. Miami Columbus 10-1, d. Port Orange Spruce Creek 5-1.

Stat Leaders
CategoryPlantStoneman Douglas
Batting averageJohn Trey Freeman, .416Devin Fitz-Gerald, .408
Home runsRocco Demarinis, 4Matthew Ossenfort, 10
RBIsRocco Demarinis, 23Two tied with 32
ERARobert Satin, 1.36Luke Cherry, 0.44
StrikeoutsRobert Satin, 104Christian Rodriguez, 117

Outlook

The Panthers, who made the state semifinals last season, took the next step to reach the championship game for the first time since 2009. They are trying to win their second title in school history, the first coming in 1988. Plant got here by rallying to beat Lake Worth Park Vista 5-4 in Tuesday’s semifinals. Trailing 4-2, the Panthers came back by scoring three runs in the top of the seventh inning. Connor Fulmino, Garrett Hill and Jackson Meade each drove in runs to lead Plant on offense. Now comes the hard part. Stoneman Douglas, the Panthers’ opponent in the final, is undefeated and is ranked first in the class and the state and second in the nation by MaxPreps. The Eagles are averaging more than eight runs per game thanks to a power-driven offense that has hit 35 homers this season.