Island Coast becomes first Lee County public school to win state baseball championship

Island Coast was determined to make history.

It wasn’t just for the baseball team. It was for their school. It was for their county, too.

The Gators downed Jensen Beach 8-7 in extra innings of the Class 4A final early Wednesday morning, giving the school its first state championship in any sport since it opened in 2007. Island Coast fielded its first varsity baseball team in 2009, and it wasn’t eligible to play in the postseason until 2010.

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“Over 20 years ago, this journey started when my dad started taking me to these games in Tampa,” an emotional Island Coast coach Clint Montgomery said. “Then we followed it to Sarasota from middle school for six years. From middle school to high school and seeing those dogpiles, I always wanted to be a part of that.

“For me to be able to hand that trophy to my dad, it may have meant more than winning the trophy. People just don’t get to do that at our age.”

The Gators snapped a century-long drought dating back to when the FHSAA sanctioned baseball in 1922, becoming the first public school in Lee County to achieve the feat of winning a state championship. Island Coast joins Bishop Verot (1994, 2011) and Canterbury (2016-18) as the only state champions within the county.

“About the Lee County thing, the game against Miami Springs (4-1 win in Region 4A-4 final) was awesome,” Montgomery said. “The fans that came in support, and then these last two nights. It’s not just been Island Coast people; it’s been people throughout Lee County that came and supported us.

“I would love if you guys would let me say thank you to all the fans that showed up. It made for an outstanding atmosphere tonight. It really was.”

The Gators took an early 1-0 lead in the third inning on a Jake Mueller RBI double that plated Boe Rodriguez. In the bottom half, the Falcons responded, as FAU commit Patrick Ward reached on an error by Kevin Martinez at third base, which brought in a run.

Island Coast would stretch its lead to 5-1 in the fifth thanks in part to a Jordi Guerrero two-run home run on a first-pitch fastball, which was scorched to deep left field. Jensen Beach loaded the bases in the bottom half, prompting Montgomery to pull starter Jake Billings for Dylan Masters.

Without throwing a pitch, Masters picked off a Jensen Beach runner on a third to first pickoff play to get a key out, as the right-hander would let up a sacrifice fly to bring in one run. At that time, the Gators still held a comfortable 5-2 advantage.

In the bottom of the sixth, Masters walked Ty Velardo, the first batter he faced, and then fell behind to Kyle Derrenbacker, prompting Montgomery to bring Billings back in from right field. It would bring Jensen Beach back into the game, as Derrenbacker walked, and Dylan Fatovich singled on a bunt.

Enter catcher Matt Kautz, who came into the game hitting just .217 as the No. 8 hitter in the lineup. Kautz stung a double into left-center field, plating all three Jensen Beach runners to tie the game at five.

“Matt is such a leader on our team,” Jensen Beach coach Corey Cooke said. “He’s a catcher that blocks everything. He just grinds and grinds in the cages. He’s so much better than .217. He’s hit balls right at people. For him to come through in that moment, I looked at him and he said, ‘I was due coach’. Yeah, that’s right. You were fricken due.

“Happy for him. There’s so many seniors I can go through, so many players I can go through. It just didn’t come out the way we wanted to.”

Montgomery was partially worried, because his team got out of its habit of playing strong defense behind good pitching. Entering the game, the team had a fielding percentage of .949 with just 38 errors all season.

“We lost three of our seven games with exploding innings, and till this point of the playoffs, we’ve played really good defense,” Montgomery said. “A lot of people have talked about our offense and stuff like that, and we have a great offense… That inning, we broke the philosophy of what we do. I think we walked four or five guys.”

Emilio Gonzalez, an FAU commit, was brought into pitch in place of Billings. The lefty never settled in, letting up a walk and an infield single before a Ward sacrifice fly and a Patrick Gillen RBI single would give the Falcons a 7-5 lead entering the seventh inning.

Gonzalez made up for his performance on the mound with arguably the biggest hit of his career. The left-handed slugger tied the game with an RBI single after Mueller clubbed an RBI double that scored Rodriguez to make it 7-6.

In the eighth, Cooke and Jensen Beach were tasked with a tough call of either pitching to Rodriguez (3 for 3, 2 BB), or walking him and facing Martinez with two outs and a runner on second. Martinez, who was 0 for 3 with three strikeouts at the time, seemed like the ideal choice, despite leading the team in batting average and hits.

The Flagler commit delivered a clutch single after Rodriguez was intentionally walked, putting Island Coast back into the lead. Rodriguez sensed that Martinez’s time would come in that spot.

“I already knew he was going to get a hit, because he was due,” Rodriguez said. “His past experience and the past success he’s had this season, I knew 100 percent we were going to have success there.”

“It’s magical,” Martinez added. “It’s not like anything else you feel. It’s once in a lifetime moment. It’s amazing, there’s no other words for it. It’s indescribable. You never want to forget it.”

Mueller, the Alabama commit who played the season with a torn labrum, entered to pitch in the bottom of the seventh despite not throwing to a batter in game action all season. He would have a clean inning, before Jensen Beach had a pair of two-out hits in the eighth with the heart of the lineup due.

With Gillen at-bat for Jensen Beach with runners on first and second, the lefty hit a sharp ground ball to Rodriguez, who flipped the ball to second basemen Javi Cabrera to end it. That sent the hundreds of Island Coast fans and locals in attendance into a frenzy.

“How about Jake Mueller coming in with the torn labrum,” Montgomery said. “I told him a week ago that we’re at the point of the season if you have to be used, you have to be used. I think you guys saw, he had to be used.”

Rodriguez closed his prep career on a tear, going 6-for-7 in the state semifinals and state championship with a double, five runs scored, with an RBI and two walks. He finishes with a .367 average before he gets set to play for FSW next season.

“Boe had been hot,” Montgomery said. “Hell, I’ll be honest with you guys: Boe was out to prove something this week, and I think he had a great series. What did he have, seven, six hits in two games? He was pissed that he didn’t make First Team All-Area, and he was out to prove it. He played tremendous defense.”

Winning it for the school that Montgomery said was “looked down upon” after the team beat Miami Springs was an ultimate goal for the Gators this season. It was to prove that the school, located in north Cape Coral, is one that students should consider.

Montgomery, who has been at the school from the start, believes that winning the 4A championship will only help moving forward, marking a new chapter in the school's history.

“… I started this from day one of the playoffs, telling you guys this was more than just baseball,” Montgomery said. “This was about our school and helping put our school out there, that we’re a great place to go to school. I hope people can see that now. Not only can we win a lot of games and send a lot of guys to college.

“That’s what it was about. It was a mission for more than just baseball.”

Follow Southwest Florida Sports Writer Alex Martin on Twitter: @NP_AlexMartin. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Island Coast baseball makes history, wins first state title over Jensen Beach