Dwyer Cruises To First State Title Game Ever

The Dwyer baseball program has been knocking on the door of a state title for the past several years. In 2021, the Panthers advanced to the state final four, but lost in the semifinals.

The past two seasons, Dwyer has lost regional final games to Doral. Nick Rovitti has been on all three of those teams, and on Thursday, the senior took the mound in what would become his final appearance for the Panthers.

Rovitti made the most of the opportunity, throwing a complete game shutout, while striking out 12, and leading the Panthers to their first-ever state championship game appearance, defeating Viera 8-0 in their 6A semifinal.

“I was on the team that came here my freshman year, and to come back here today and get a win was a special feeling,” said Rovitti. “We all just didn’t want our season to end, and we played like it today.”

After Rovitti shut down the Hawks in the top of the first, the Panthers offense wasted no time putting runs on the board. Lead-off hitter Jackson Miller began the game by launching a solo home run.

After the blast, Viera looked like they would get out without any more harm, until three straight singles from Kody Morgan, Trevor Majer, and Sully Smith, and a walk to Dom Pecoraro made the score 2-0.

“That first inning was big for us,” said Panthers Manager Jordan Yamamoto. “To score two runs and put the pressure on them, while letting our guys relax into the game, that is always the start you are looking for.”

Dwyer added on single runs in the second, fourth, and fifth innings, before putting the game out of reach with three runs in the sixth.

From there, Rovitti worked around a couple singles in the seventh and closed out the semifinal win.

For Dwyer, the progression from close to champions is just one win away.

“We made history today, no Dwyer team has ever reached the state title game, so we have achieved something special. But our goal this season was to win a state title, and we have that opportunity on Saturday,” said Yamamoto.

The new skipper came in and changed the culture of the Panthers, and in his first year, from all accounts, he came in as a players coach, someone that has fun in the game, but that has earned the players’ respect.

“Throughout the year I learned a lot from him about how to stay calm and cool in some tough situations,” said Rovitti. “He talks me through a lot of situations, having been a pitcher himself. So it is good to have someone to talk to about things I have gone through.”

Miller agrees.

“From day one, coach has stressed that our goal was to win a state title, and we haven’t done that yet,” said Miller. “We have one more game Saturday, and when we win that game, we will have accomplished our goal.”

Up next for the Panthers will be Buchholz, another team experiencing their first-ever state final game. Buchholz also took a similar path to the championship game, having defeated Bloomingdale 12-0 in the first semifinal of the day.

The two lopsided wins, leaves both the Panthers and Bobcats with their full arsenal of arms on the mound.

“They had a big win today also,” said Yamamoto. “But we don’t get too caught up in who we are playing. Baseball is a game of confidence, and right now, we are playing with a high level of confidence. We feel like if we come out and play our game, we will get the result we are looking for.”

The 6A championship game is set for 11AM on Saturday.

Leave a comment using your facebook account!