The Florida Heat closed out its inaugural season in style Sunday by winning the HSBN Boys of Winter tournament championship 7-5 over the Panthers Baseball Club. The Heat made the most of its opportunity in the eighth inning after the game went into extras with both teams tied at 2. Anthony Nagueiras hit a two-run homer, and Johnny Mendez drove in two more as part of a five-run eighth. Chandler Cissel and Zack Kone scored on wild pitches, and Chris Koppenhaver came in on a flyout for the Panthers in their half of the eighth, which was played with an interesting tiebreaker scenario. Each team got bases loaded with no outs to start its half of the inning. “You have to spin it positive,” Panthers coach Nick Manganaro said. “It was a good experience for our pitchers to get in a pressure situation and throw strikes. I thought we did a good job getting the first groundball, double-play out. It’s probably the best scenario you can have in that situation – to get a double play. We only gave up one run. We fell behind on the next guy. We were forced to put him on and not give him anything good. We went for the matchup ready and got behind and left one up and they took advantage of it. It kind of spiraled from there. Overall, it was a great game. I can’t be upset.” Down 2-0, the Heat tied it on Eric Hepple’s single in the fifth that scored Austin Crespo and Manny Rojas. Hepple, who has committed to the University of Central Florida and is one of eight players on the team to receive Division I offers, was named the tournament MVP. Hepple, who threw six innings Friday in a 5-1 win over the Flying L’s, pitched a scoreless sixth in relief Sunday. He also had a walkoff home run in 4-3 win over Xtremeline on Saturday. The Panthers scored in the first as Koppenhaver doubled in Kone, and relief pitcher Matt Rothenberg singled in Eric Collazo in the third. A play at the plate in the fourth turned out to be one of the most key plays of the game as Panthers catcher Alex Perez received a relay from pitcher Adam Saks in time to tag out the runner. A throw to home sailed wide, but Saks was able to recover it in time to help complete the play. “Our pitcher did a good job getting back there,” Manganaro said. “You never really see that play work out a lot, but he got it quickly and threw it to the plate and gave us a chance to get the out, and it was huge. It was one of those games where every out was going to be important. They’re a good team. We made most of our plays for the most part, and they made most of the plays. It came down to two very important innings, and we just left a couple of balls up and they took advantage of it.” Heat coach Danny Rouah said getting the run was crucial, so he decided to go for it. “We played aggressive and tried to get the guy to score and he got thrown out and we just have to play it from there,” Rouah said. The aggressive approach is one that has helped the team have such a successful first season. “The team played very well,” Rouah said. “We brought in a couple of new guys [for the tournament], a couple of young guys who really played well for us. One of them is the one who hit the home run in the extra inning. I thought they played very well together, played good defense, pitched well and gave the guys a chance.” Rouah and his coaching partner Josh Starr started the program this fall, recruiting players from around the state. The team played in four tournaments in October, winning brackets in the Perfect Game Underclass and the Perfect Game Qualifier. The Heat also placed in the top 32 in the Prospect Wire state championship. “Josh did a good job bringing guys into the program who are quality baseball players,” said Rouah, who’s also assisted by Albert Ayala. “We just wanted to focus on quality baseball players who like to play the game.” A successful fall is just the start the program needed as it looks ahead. “We’re going to continue to grow,” Rouah said. “We’re going to continue to expand the program. We’re going to have three teams in the summer. We just ask the guys to keep working hard during their high school seasons. Winning this tournament was very encouraging for us because in October we didn’t win any tournaments although we won brackets. This being the last tournament we’re playing in the fall, winning is very encouraging for the guys to see they are as talented as we think they are and what they’re capable of. Moving forward, we just look for the guys to get bigger and stronger and continue to win tournaments.” The players have enjoyed their first season together as much as the coaches have. “I’ve had a great time and it’s been a lot of fun,” Nagueiras said. Hepple said “this probably the best team ever honestly. We’ve got great coaches, great kids. It’s fun to be around, great atmosphere. I got a lot better on this team.” While the Heat savors its championship win over the holiday season, the Panthers will be thinking about how the outcome could have been different for them in the Boys of Winter tournament as well as the HSBN Fall Classic in which they also fell short, losing 4-3 to the Pembroke Pines Panthers on Nov. 20. “We came up short in both of these tournaments, so I think that’s something that our guys are going to have to work on, closing out games and taking advantage when we get up early,” Manganaro said. “It’s definitely something that’s going to eat at them, and hopefully they’ll use it to get better. But it’s been a great fall. We always look at it as a chance for our young guys to get opportunities and get added reps at the plate. That’s why we joined this league. We had a great showing in the fall and in this tournament. It’s really something we can build off of. We’re happy. We’re pleased. We know we can get better.”