FORT MYERS BOUND: Buchholz baseball 'built for the atmosphere' in Pace win, punching ticket to Final Four

The Buchholz baseball team was looking for some short-term vengeance, and is now has the chance for some long-term vengeance.

It's not a secret that the first game of the Region 1-6A finals series, when the Bobcats hosted Pace, wasn't Buchholz's finest outing. Suffering an 11-4 loss to the Patriots – the Bobcats' first loss since April 5, and their only loss since – Buchholz quickly had to shift the focus to "one game at a time."

The series hadn't been lost yet. And the Bobcats had a chance to tie things up. Ultimately they did, with a score of 11-2, this time in favor of Buchholz.

In an intense win-or-go-home Game 3 of the region final at Pace, the Bobcats pulled out a gutsy, 5-4, extra-inning win against the Patriots thanks to a timely hit from Blake Brewer in the top of the eighth, followed by some stellar pitching from Aidan Kastensmidt.

“We took it one game at a time. We said, ‘Don’t let Wednesday lead us into Thursday.’ We had to concentrate on Thursday. Once we won on Thursday, we formulated a plan," Buchholz head coach Ron Brooks said. "Our players, in this cell phone age where you’re constantly looking at past things, they did a great job of focusing in.”

After trading one run apiece in the first two innings, Buchholz plated two more runs in the top of the third following a two-run shot from Kai So. The lead didn't last long after Pace sent two runners across home plate in the bottom of the fourth to tie things again.

"Kai is a tremendous leader for us behind the plate as a senior. He’s a really good high school hitter – one of the best I’ve ever seen and been around," Brooks said. "His approach is really professional. Tonight, he got some balls out of the yard. He showed up tonight, which was huge.”

So crushed his second homer of the game in the sixth inning, only for Pace to tie the game, again, off a home run from Glenn Brooks that ultimately forced extra innings.

After the next Pace batter recorded an infield single, Kastensmidt entered the game in relief for Wyatt Clarke. Kastensmidt quickly forced two groundouts to end regulation.

Following two hit-by-pitches against So and JJ Gardner, who started the game on the mound, Brewer, two batters later, crushed a ball to right-center field in the gap which scored So, who ran in from second.

Kastsensmidt, at the plate, hit into a groundout for the third out of the top of the eighth. But work still had to be done on the mound.

He forced two groundouts for the first two at-bats, then faced a full count after a couple fouled off pitches. Then came the game-clinching pitch, a swinging strikeout.

And Buchholz punched its ticket back to Fort Myers for back-to-back seasons.

“Aidan had something to prove from Wednesday, too. It was good he was on the mound at the end. JJ did a good job to start, and Wyatt gave us three good innings," Ron Brooks said. "For Aidan to close it, I’m really proud of him."

Buchholz (32-2) heads back to the Class 6A Final Four, now looking for that long-term vengeance after falling to Dwyer in the state title game last season.

It's a spot that, some thought, maybe wouldn't be possible after graduating a lot of talent in 2024.

"In the fall, I told some people I was really excited about the depth we had in our program. Offensively, I thought we were going to be sneaky good. Our approaches were really good in the fall. Our arms, I feel like we’re in good shape," Ron Brooks said. "We have a bunch of guys who can compete and throw strikes. Everybody thought we lost a lot. But, as a coach, I knew what we had coming back and I was excited about it.”

'Built for the atmosphere'

With the FHSAA instituting the best-of-three series in baseball for regional tournaments, this was the first time both Pace and Buchholz had both experienced a series-deciding Game 3.

Pace had quickly worked through both Oviedo and Tocoi Creek, while Buchholz rolled by First Coast and pulled off two close wins against Tate. May 10's game also marked the first time Buchholz had been on the road since April 7 at Forest.

Buchholz was able to show off its pitching depth, and bounce-back mentality, after falling in Game 1 of the series. With the ability to use a starter that hadn't seen mound time in the first two games, plus relievers that had some action, it looks like Buchholz was the so-called prototype that the FHSAA was thinking about when putting in the new policy.

But even then, Ron Brooks believed the Bobcats, if not built for a series, were "built for the atmosphere" of Pace and a survive-and-advance or lose-and-go-home scenario.

"Whatever the FHSAA tells us to do, we’ll do. Two or three games aside, this turned into a one-game series. We were built for that in our mental approach," Ron Brooks said. "This is a tough atmosphere, as everybody knows. (Pace) does a great job in the stands and supporting the program. I’m proud of how we handled the environment. (Pace) threw some punches, we threw some punches, but luckily, at the end, we were the ones standing."

With May 10's game originally supposed to be in the early afternoon, a 2 p.m. CT start time, the contest was pushed back to 6 p.m. to allow Pace's field to shape up after the area was hit with some storms.

And it all contributed.

"Last year, in the regional tournament, we had several games that were pushed back. At the state tournament, we were pushed back. We’re used to that," Ron Brooks said. "But what’s cool is, we use that time to grow as a family. It was family time for us on the bus and hanging out today. I think that really helps our culture.”

Ben Grieco is the Sports Reporter at the Pensacola News-Journal.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Buchholz baseball wins FHSAA Region 1-6A championship at Pace in Game 3