State finals

All games are played at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers. Tickets are $14 and are available via GoFan. Parking is $10 for cars and $50 for buses (cash or credit card).  

Class 5A

Plantation American Heritage (21-10) vs. Jesuit (25-6), 2 p.m., today

How they got here: American Heritage d. Pembroke Pines Charter 2-0, d. Mater Academy Charter 6-1, d. Archbishop McCarthy 2-0, d. Tallahassee Lincoln 3-2. Jesuit d. Island Coast 7-3, d. Osceola 16-4, d. Parrish Community 6-3, d. Wesley Chapel 11-1.

Stat leaders

Category	American Heritage	Jesuit
Batting average	Blayden Caballero, .483	Noah Sheffield, .409
RBIs	Sebastian Garavito, 22	Noah Sheffield, 28
Home runs	Lucas Ramirez, 4	Noah Sheffield, 4
ERA	Talan Holiday, 1.12	Jonny Sosnowski, 0.64
Strikeouts	Talan Holiday, 77	McCall Biemiller, 97

Outlook

This is a rematch from last year’s state title that the Tigers lost 8-5 in eight innings. The painful memories of a game that got away served as a powerful motivator this season. Jesuit is in position to win its seventh overall title and second in the past three years thanks to a balanced — an explosive — offense capable of putting up big numbers in any inning. In the state semifinals, Wesley Chapel went ahead 1-0. Then the Tigers’ bats went to work. They scored twice in the second inning, added another run in the third, then put the game away by scoring seven runs in the fourth for an eventual 11-1 victory that extended their win streak to 12 games. Eight players had hits with Vincent DeCarlo and Zane Pestalozzi each driving in a pair of runs. Aden Knowles threw a three-hitter with six strikeouts in a game that was called after five innings because of the mercy rule. The defending state champion Patriots played down the stretch and enter on a seven-game win streak.