Nova, Pines Charter, Comebacks Lead District Playoffs Day 1

Throughout the years, it is traditionally the first day of the district playoffs when most upsets occur. Many of the top seeds in the districts are off on Day 1, leading to some intriguing lower seeded match ups.

On Tuesday, the Broward district playoffs began, and for the first time in years, there were no major upsets.

Several teams were right at the brink of pulling of upsets, but last inning heroics rom Nova and Pembroke Pines Charter, squashed out McArthur and South Broward’s bid to advance.

In 6A-15, the Titans hosted the Bulldogs, and early on, it appeared Nova would be in control. They scored five runs in the first two innings to grab a commanding 5-1 lead. The Bulldogs, however, would use the long ball to get back into the game, scoring three in the fourth, one more in the fifth, and then four in the sixth, to take their first lead of the game at 9-6.

After Nova cut it to 9-7 in their half of the sixth, the state was set for Nova’s comeback.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Titans mounted a furious rally, plating three, and walking off the Bulldogs.

“I told the kids today that this game was going to have emotional swings and we have to believe we can pull it out at the end,” said Nova Manager Brian Luebkert. “And that is what happened. We were up four, then down three. If we have a strike left, we have a shot. The kids fought hard today and kept their season alive. I am very proud of them.”

A similar scene played out down the road, with McArthur jumping out an an early 4-0 lead in their 5A-15 semifinal match-up with Pines Charter.

The Jaguars cut the lead to 4-3 in the fourth, but when the Mustangs got an insurance run in the seventh, it looked like they may advance.

The Jaguars then mirrored what Nova did earlier in the night, scoring three runs in the seventh, to advance to the district title game on Wednesday night.

As for the rest of the county, there was only two other seeded upsets. American beat Northeast in 4A-15, and Piper took down Fort Lauderdale in 6A-14. The Bengals will move on the face Coral Springs in the semifinals.

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