West Broward baseball advances past Columbus again for third straight playoff run
West Broward beat Miami Columbus 13-7 in a deciding game, setting up another regional finals matchup with Stoneman Douglas.
West Broward is writing its own playoff script, and Miami Columbus is running out of chapters.
The Bobcats’ baseball season is nearing a breakthrough after another postseason roadblock in the Region 4-7A semifinals.. For the third straight year, West Broward eliminated Columbus from the playoffs, this time claiming the best-of-3 series after a tight start and a decisive surge in the clincher.. The focus for West Broward now shifts to a familiar opponent in the regional finals, where it will face Stoneman Douglas.
In Saturday’s deciding game at Columbus, West Broward trailed 5-2 after four innings before momentum flipped quickly. Third baseman AJ Cruz and catcher Manuel Sarcos keyed the turnaround with back-to-back home runs, launching a five-run stretch that ultimately carried into a 13-7 victory.
Sarcos finished the clinching win with a three-run homer that helped widen the gap after Columbus built an early lead.. The offense had already begun to find its rhythm, with the Bobcats answering a 4-0 Columbus advantage and continuing to add runs through the middle innings.. West Broward’s bats came alive again in the sixth inning after earlier scoring opportunities helped keep the pressure on.
Meanwhile, the series carried the kind of swings that make postseason matchups tough to predict. West Broward still managed to secure the outcome after a game marked by multiple lead changes in Friday’s opener, and after Columbus evened the series with a lopsided second game.
Insight: What stands out for West Broward is not just the ability to swing for runs, but the way the lineup stayed engaged after going behind, then stacked key moments together when the game opened up.
Coach Howard Stein pointed to resilience as the reason the deficit did not spiral. After an early setback in one of the games and Columbus’s strong start in the decisive contest, West Broward’s hitters adjusted at the right time, and the offensive momentum became difficult for Columbus to contain.
The regional finals next bring back the matchup many in Broward have come to expect.. West Broward will meet Stoneman Douglas in another best-of-3 series, after Douglas advanced by sweeping Southwest Miami.. The Bobcats will also carry confidence from an earlier win over Douglas on Feb.. 25, a result that has helped change the tone heading into the next round.
Insight: Facing Stoneman Douglas again will be a test, but the win over Columbus matters because it shows the Bobcats can survive pressure and still produce the late-game punch that playoff opponents usually depend on.
Key moments in the Columbus series reflected that pattern, with West Broward using home runs throughout the three games and maintaining enough consistency to keep the series from slipping away.. Now, as the postseason continues, the question is whether this surge can turn into the kind of breakthrough they have been chasing.