Jackson's home run, Thrush's two-hitter win region title, send Dwyer baseball back to state

PALM BEACH GARDENS — The rain held off on Monday evening, but there were still showers to be had on the diamond at Dwyer High School after the Panthers punched their ticket to the 6A state championship.

Senior Ole Miss commit Jackson Miller ran from center field into the arms of his teammates, dousing each other with water bottles to celebrate the final out of a 3-0 region title victory. The Panthers corralled their excitement long enough to navigate a stiff-lipped handshake line with West Boca Raton, who ended the season with a record of 18-12.

Then, anyone looking on from a distance would've thought that they were seeing champagne showers on the baseball field as players swarmed into the dugout, only to bolt out popping corks.

"It was apple cider," Dwyer senior Dawson Thrush laughed, grabbing at his soaked, white jersey. "You can smell it on me."

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Thrush had just thrown a complete game, allowing two hits, three walks, and striking out two.

"This is the best feeling ever," he said. "I didn't understand how good it was until losing the last few years and getting to go back to state again is the best."

The Air Force commit explained that the cider celebration was all manager Jordan Yamamoto's idea.

Anyone who knows the first-year skipper's past as a Miami Marlins pitcher knows that his club would have nothing less than a celly of major league proportions.

"We did it the first game of regionals because ... we live in a world where everything good, all the positive stuff gets lost and we forget to take the small wins as they come. We told them, 'Hey, we're going to be popping apple cider,' " Yamamoto said. "Especially having two home games and winning it here, there's no better time for it."

Thrush's two-hitter, Jackson's homer return Dwyer baseball to state

Dwyer's (21-7-1) third time this season against West Boca was the charm.

"I didn't have a doubt," Yamamoto continued.

"I was telling the boys today that there was certain days I woke up throughout the season and I would think, 'Ah, something feels off.' Today, I didn't have that, and it showed," he said. "The boys came out, played hard, played with their hearts, and you can't ask for anything more than that."

In the last two years, the Bulls have become quite the rival, swiping back-to-back district title upsets on Dwyer's turf. In those same two years, the Panthers have eliminated West Boca from state contention.

One of five Division I prospects for the Panthers, senior Bryce Jackson wasn't going to be denied his last chance to get a ring before South Florida.

He showed it early with a homer to get on the board.

"It was the best feeling in the world to hit that home run in the first inning to start things off. Gave me a ball right over the heart of the plate and I smashed it," Jackson said.

"I don't think we would've won without it, and the best hitter did it," Thrush said of his teammate.

Jackson had some kind words of his own for Thrush, calling the righty reliever "nasty" and "hard to hit."

West Boca's FAU commit James Litman didn't make it an easy go for Panther bats, managing a one-hitter until the bottom of the fifth, when Dom Pecoraro scored a single for Tampa commit Trevor Majer and junior catcher Max Abrams nailed what's become a typical game-sealing base-hit to bring home Pecoraro.

Jackson, Thrush, as well as ace Nick Rovitti and fellow USF signee Kody Morgan were all freshmen on the last Dwyer team to reach the final four.

The pain of a 3-2 walkoff against Bloomingdale has stung since 2021. Just like last year's season-ending region championship loss.

"All that's been in my head is getting walked off by Doral last year and how it felt," Jackson said. "I was thinking about getting on the bus to go to states and this year, we got it done."

Panthers plan to win "the ship" in Fort Myers

Just two wins away from bringing the hardware back to Palm Beach County, Dwyer boards the bus for Fort Myers on Thursday, May 16, for a 1 p.m. first pitch against Viera. Players will be treated to a next-level experience at Lee Health Sports Complex's Hammond Stadium, the spring training home of the Minnesota Twins.

However, getting to Saturday's 11 a.m. title game will be a task.

2023 state runner-up Viera returns to Florida's west coast without star pitcher-catcher duo Alex Sosa and Camden Wicker, now at NC State and Wofford, respectively. Still, the remaining talent is special, and starving to win a historic state championship of their own. The Hawks enter the matchup as the underdog, seeded third against No. 2 Dwyer.

"We're getting a state ship for sure ... for sure," Jackson said.

"No doubt about it."

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

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jackson's home run, Thrush's two-hitter send Dwyer baseball back to state