An Island Coast student shows support for the baseball team during the school's celebration of the Gators’ state championship. CJ HADDAD

A celebration decades in the making unfolded Friday afternoon at Island Coast High School. The bleachers were packed, students and supporters were on their feet, and the school band blasted jubilant music as the baseball team strutted its way into the gym. It was well deserved. The team had made not just school history, but Lee County history; being the first baseball team to hoist a state championship, well, ever.

The Gators captured the FHSAA 4A State Championship, defeating Jensen Beach 8-7 in eight innings in a game that started May 24 and ended around 1:30 a.m. on May 25.

Island Coast head coach Clint Montgomery shared with the student body just how special his group of young men is, and how every single member of the roster and coaching staff was a contributing factor in their success.

“The thing about (the team) is they’re just warriors,” Montgomery said. “They hate to lose and hate to fail. Each of the guys have a different role and do it a different way, but the mentality is the same. Our goal was to win no matter what this season, and that’s what they did.”

It was surely an experience everyone in that gym will carry for a long time, especially the student-athletes and coaches.

Members of the Island Coast baseball team arrive at the school's celebration of the team's FHSAA 4A State Championship victory Friday afternoon in the school gym. CJ HADDAD

“It was great. It’s a great experience having your whole school backing you up – everybody supporting you,” said Gator pitcher and third baseman Kevin Martinez. “We accomplished history and it feels great to be here and to have everyone’s support.”

“It was awesome to do for the school,” said Gator first baseman Jake Mueller. “(We won the state title) for our school, not just for ourselves. We wanted to put the school on the map, and not just the baseball program, the entire school.”

“It’s sinking in and now, it’s really starting to hit,” said Gator senior shortstop Eddie Boe Rodriguez. “When you look at those brackets and you only see Island Coast in the championship game. It’s a lot of hard work, hard practices and I always attribute (our success) to Clint Montgomery and our guys here.”

Gator outfielder Emilio Gonzalez said, “Just knowing we’re champs, and we’re the best in Florida is so satisfying.”

Martinez added, “The first two days, it felt like we were in a movie. It felt like a dream. But now, you start realizing that we really did it and accomplished history. It’s the best feeling any player could have.”

Island Coast baseball coach Clint Montgomery addresses the student body and supporters at the school's celebration of the team's FHSAA 4A State Championship. CJ HADDAD

The way the season began for the Gators, just working their way back from an early hole in the standings was on their brain, never mind a state championship. Island Coast started 1-3 (1-5 including preseason), and Montgomery said he had to look at himself in the mirror to reflect on what was going wrong.

He said one day the players came to the field to make a video for their Instagram account to promote their first home game. It was there when another character of Montgomery, who is loaded with personality once you get to know him, revealed itself.

“The kids just kind of saw a different side of me,” Montgomery said. “From that point on we were just looser around each other and we got on a roll. I think that was the turning point. We had little turning points throughout the season but that was kind of the day we came together as a group.”

Following their 1-3 start, the Gators posted a 23-4 record the rest of the way (24-7 overall) and ended on a 10-game winning streak.

The players said a big turning point in the season actually came in a 6-3 loss to George Jenkins High School in Lakeland.

The Island Coast Gators FHSAA 4A State Championship team and staff. CJ HADDAD

“We realized that we held up with a team that good,” Martinez said. “We realized our talent and how good of a team we could be. We knew from there we needed to pick it up and get work done.”

They brought home the District 4A-13 championship via a 6-4 win over Bonita Springs and again dispatched of the Bullsharks, 10-0, in the first round of the state tournament.

The Gators then traveled to Cardinal Gibbons where they came out on top 5-2. Next was Miami Springs at home – a game that resulted in a 4-1 Island Coast victory and a birth in the Final Four. At Hammond Stadium, the site for this year’s FHSAA baseball championships, lighting delays could have derailed their journey, but the Gators stayed strong. A big first inning propelled Island Coast to a 9-2 win over Suwannee and 24 hours later, the Gators defeated Jensen Beach for the crown.

“It’s just so special for these guys to live in this moment,” Montgomery said. “I’m just so happy for the players that they get to relish (in their accomplishments) and experience things like pep rallies and news coverage, and they deserve it, and our school deserves it.”

The Island Coast offense was one of, if not the most powerful lineup across the state down the stretch. Rodriguez, Mueller, Martinez, Gonzalez, as well as Jordi Guerrero, Jake Billings, Tommy Bryne, Davin Hickman and Dylan Masters, all contributed in a Gators order that outscored their opponents 240-91 throughout the year. They scored 36 runs in five state tournament games and allowed no more than two runs in any game other than the state championship.

The trophies noting the district, regional and state championships the Gators captured this season. CJ HADDAD

Martinez started three out of the five games and appeared in four, while Billings started two including the final. Martinez was simply stellar on the mound all season for Island Coast, posting a 12-1 record in 15 appearances with a minuscule 1.27 ERA. That line includes five complete games, four of which were shutouts. He struck out 91 batters in 83 innings pitched and walked 14. Batters hit just .163 versus the junior and Flagler commit. He tossed six innings of two-run ball in the state semifinal versus Suwannee where he struck out 11 batters.

“The only thing I really focused on was working away – mixing in my off-speed and just trying to dominate as much as I could,” Martinez said. “I had a good part of the season where I was just a pitcher that would allow contact for easy outs, and that last game against Suwannee – that’s a team you need to dominate. I feel that I performed well on the mound and with the defense I have behind me it was a great mix.”

Martinez was no slouch at the plate either, leading the team in batting average hitting at a .452 clip. He ranked second in on base percentage (.546), first in hits (42), fourth in RBI (24) and second in doubles (9). He drove home the game-winning run in the top of the eighth against Jensen Beach to put the Gators back on top.

Rodriguez, one of six seniors to graduate, is heading to Florida Southwestern State College next year to continue his baseball journey. The shortstop was hot with both the glove and bat in the state tournament, scoring eight runs and driving in two and going 10-for-19 at the dish in five contests (6-for-7 in final two games).

“I attribute it to staying simple,” Rodriguez said. “Trying to hit doubles and triples can get you in a hole. My mindset in the game was to get on base no matter how I can get on base. Not taking the big swing. Trying to do some damage early in the count, but later in the count just put the bat on the ball and try to run out a ground ball or hit a line drive. And that’s what I did.”

One of the Gators' cheerleaders helping lead the state championship celebration. CJ HADDAD

Rodriguez led the team in runs scored (46), triples (tied 3) and stolen bases (9).

Another player who took a simple approach that paid dividends is Gonzalez. The big lefty bashed six homers this year, batted .446, posted a .523 on base percentage and drove in a team-high 37 runs. Gonzalez came up with clutch hits throughout the year and postseason, including a three RBI game in the state final.

“I was just trying to be more simple because coach told me I was over-swinging too much,” Gonzalez said. “Coach told me to put the ball in play and good things will happen.”

Mueller, an Alabama commit, brought the lumber all year and especially in the postseason. The slugging right-hander mashed eight homers to lead the team throughout the year, led the team in doubles (10), slugging percentage (.815), on base percentage (.547), and was third in batting average (.446), second in runs scored (28), third in hits (41) and third in RBI (33).

He said the team’s bond is what pushed them to this level.

“We were just always together, on and off the field,” Mueller said.

When asked what he’ll remember most, Martinez said: “Definitely the brotherhood we had. That was the most key thing. That’s what really clicked us all together. It’s like we’re all blood brothers.”

Both Montgomery and the players talked about the chip on their shoulder representing Island Coast and how they’re not always viewed as a choice program – and how that fueled their desire to compete and come out on top. To elevate their school.

“Everybody around the area puts Island Coast down,” Mueller said. “They think nobody wants to come here – (students are) just automatically put here instead of choosing to come here. Now that we (won a state championship), we’re trying to show the community we want to be here and we want more people to join the family.”

Rodriguez said, “(The chip) motivated us a lot. We knew we had the talent. We knew we were going to make a difference. I don’t think Island Coast has seen what we brought this year.”

Montgomery, who has been the head coach at Island Coast since the program’s inception more than a decade ago said, “I’m here because I want to be a Gator. I’ve always believed that I could win here and I’ve always won here. I didn’t know if we would ever reach this level or anything like it, but I knew I always had a good program – that we would always be knocking on the door. And all you’ve got to do is get to the door, and then you never know when you bust through. This was our year. It was a mission.

“A lot of these kids — this wasn’t their first choice school. It’s kind of like destiny that someone from higher powers put all these kids together and really just made an outstanding team that gelled together and played well.”

Montgomery also showed great gratitude for area schools that in fact did cheer them on during their state championship run.

“I’m just an old country boy from a small town that didn’t grow up with a whole lot, and sometimes that’s how I coach – with anger in my heart that the whole world is against us,” he said. “But this week, I realized I had so many allies in coaches from the area at Fort Myers, Mariner, Riverdale, Gulf Coast, Canterbury, Bishop Verot, North Fort Myers, Cape Coral, etcetera. The list goes on and it was just such a humbling moment to see all of those coaches rally around me and my team.”

The players said Montgomery has been the ultimate coach and motivator for the group.

“Every speech when we’ve had a bad game, every speech, touches our heart,” Gonzalez said. “He showed us what it takes.”

As for what fans can expect next year?

“You can expect a team that’s going to try and win the first game of the season,” Montgomery said. “That’s going to be goal number one: to figure out how to win game number one. Once we get through that, we’ll set other goals. Goals are always going to start with a district title. That’s always been the number one thing – go get that first and then play it off of that.”

— Connect with Associate Sports Editor CJ Haddad on Twitter: @haddad_cj

Island Coast Principal Dr. Michelle Cort-Mora addresses her students and staff while Gators' coach Clint Montgomery looks on. CJ HADDAD

A drummer in the Island Coast High band performing at the celebration. CJ HADDAD

More members of the Gators' band at the celebration. CJ HADDAD

Gators' head coach Clint Montgomery hoists the state championship trophy for the crowd to see. CJ HADDAD