Rovitti’s 12-strikeout day sees Dwyer baseball to first state final in program history

FORT MYERS — Rain couldn't delay Dwyer baseball's historic journey this week.

The Panthers are bound for their first ever 6A state championship trophy matchup after a decisive 8-0 shutout of Viera on Thursday. However, the day's biggest challenge wasn't the returning final four contenders, but the waiting game before.

As Hammond Stadium tradition would have it, weather was quick to soak the hopes of winning arm Nick Rovitti delivering his first pitch at 1 p.m. as scheduled. Instead, Dwyer didn't get to work until hours later.

Of course, the Panthers were quick to make up for lost time.

"The rain delays didn't really affect the team ahead of the game," senior centerfielder Jackson Miller said. "We knew what we had to do once we got off the bus in Fort Myers."

"Our mind had been in the game since we got to our hotel the night prior."

Miller leads 13-hit day for Panthers as Rovitti deals 12 strikeouts

Three up and three down for Rovitti in the first inning fired up the offense to get runs on the board.

Enter Miller.

All it took was one at-bat for Viera's confidence to be shaken as the Ole Miss commit banged out a home run on a flyball to centerfield. Two outs on the board didn't stop a series of singles from Kody Morgan, Trevor Majer, and Sully Smith loaded the bases. Four balls later and with Dom Pecoraro at the plate, a free base bumped Dwyer's lead up to 2-0.

In the third inning, a double by Dawson Thrush and an error by Viera catcher B Jensen allowed for another run by Miller, who got on base with a double and stole third to get in scoring position. Morgan matched Miller's stat-line of two runs on two hits with one RBI, supported by two runs on two hits from Bryce Jackson.

Viera's B Confreda gave up five runs on nine hits and walked three, striking out six Panthers through five innings. On the bump for a complete game performance, Rovitti dealt 12 strikeouts on five hits with one walk.

Time to bring the heat to Buchholz

Thursday's victory didn't include the apple cider-shower filled celebration that followed Dwyer's region championship win. With just one game to go this season, Dwyer's Division I-caliber core of seniors and the rest of the Panthers kept it simple on the west coast.

"For the win, we all went back to the hotel and just hung out with the parents and my teammates. We enjoyed talking about all the positives and how cool of an experience it was to make Dwyer baseball history making it to the first state championship," Miller said.

There's no time for distractions ahead of Saturday's showdown against Buchholz. The top-seed Wildcats are riding high after blanking opponent Bloomingdale, 12-0.

Yet, being the underdog could be the edge that sees the Panthers bring home the hardware.

"We're expecting a tough team from Buchholz, but nothing we haven't seen before," Miller said. "We trust our coaches and teammates to get the job done because we have worked so hard all season."

"We are going to bring intensity on Saturday leave with rings on our fingers."

Emilee Smarr is a sports reporter for the Palm Beach Post. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.