Bruce Aven is back as American Heritage’s (Florida) baseball coach
PLANTATION, FLORIDA – Defending Florida Class 5A state baseball champion American Heritage is hitting the field under new leadership.
But the storied baseball program will be under the direction of a familiar voice.
Bruce Aven, the Patriots current athletic director, is also assuming the role of head baseball coach.
It’s a position the former MLB player is accustomed to because prior to becoming the full-time athletic director two years ago, Aven served as the Patriots' baseball coach.
Aven will remain athletic director. Actually, when he became AD a few years ago, he was asked if he wanted to handle both roles. But at the time, he didn’t think that would be fair to the other sports programs. Now, he’s ready for the challenge of overseeing a prestigious program while also coaching.
After two years serving exclusively as the athletic director at American Heritage (Florida), former Major Leaguers Bruce Aven (left) is back as the manager of the school's baseball team.
Photo by Joe Frisaro
Aven will be taking over for Mike Macey, his former assistant, who was the head coach the previous two years.
“We had a situation where the head coach stepped down,” Aven said. “Not wanting to put the kids in a bad situation, and not getting the opportunity to go out and being able to find the right coach for them this late in the game. This was like late November, early December. I felt like it was my obligation to the team, and to the players and the parents that came to American Heritage, to step back in and at least give them a year’s worth of my life.”
For now, Aven is focused on the 2024 season, and he’s leaving the door open to continue coaching in the future.
“I’m not sure if it’s going to be a year, or if it’s going to be 15 years,” Aven said. “Who knows? Right now, I’m enjoying it. I’m enjoying being with the kids. I never missed the game, but I did miss the kids.”
Having Aven back in the dugout gives the Patriots a highly accomplished coach, with an impressive background.
In college, Aven played at Lamar, and was a teammate of former big leaguer and current TV sports personality, Kevin Millar.
Aven spent parts of five big league seasons from 1997-2002, playing for Cleveland, Florida, Pittsburgh and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In 2012, Aven guided the Patriots to a state and national championship with MLB catcher Zack Collins as the star of the team.
The 2023 Patriots became a tremendous surprise. Last year at this time, few in the program could have predicted a state championship, due to such an inexperienced roster. Still, Heritage finished 21-6, getting hot at the right time.
At the state championships, American Heritage defeated Tampa Jesuit, 8-5, in eight innings.
With more seasoning, Heritage is loaded once again, and will seriously contend for another state championship. The team also is expected to be nationally ranked, perhaps in the Top 10 in the country.
But unlike 2023, this year, the Patriots won’t be sneaking up on any teams.
Throughout Aven’s coaching career, Heritage was constantly contending for state titles.
“We were in the top 10, top 20 in the country, darn near every year,” Aven said. “We got up to the top five in the country. We had some great runs. I think I have five guys who have made it to the big leagues now. We’ve had 12 or 13 that have been drafted, and 80 or so who have gone on to college.”
Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas, an American League Rookie of the Year finalist in 2023, played for Aven at Heritage, as did New York Mets young infielder Mark Vientos.
Toronto Blue Jays pitching prospect Brandon Barriera, and Baltimore Orioles outfield prospect Enrique Bradford Jr. each played at Heritage. Barriera was a first round pick in 2022, and Bradford was a first-rounder in ’23.
Aven has been around long enough to put championships into perspective.
“Championships,” the veteran coach said. “They’re nice. But you have to have a little bit of luck on your side. We’ve had years where our best pitchers weren’t able to pitch [in the playoffs], or they got hurt.”
The Patriots in 2024 will be replacing their two most productive position players -- shortstop Spencer Butt (now at Florida State) and catcher Mateo Serna (Memphis).
“I told these guys, last year was a great thing because you guys came together,” Aven said. “But we also had a lot of luck on our side. You typically don’t win a championship when you make four or five errors in a game. You typically don’t win a championship when you’re behind, and a bad bounce has to help you win a game. So, we had some luck on our side.”
The Patriots also have plenty of talent back in 2024.
Top returning position players are: Lucas Ramirez (Tennessee commit), Rafael Furcal, Zack Wilson, Andrew Ortiz, Zain Diaco and Chris Levy.
RJ Machado, who will see action at shortstop, transferred to Heritage after hitting .406 last year at St. Thomas Aquinas. Machado is a legitimate middle of the order hitter who will be attending Florida State.
Top returning pitchers are: Right-hander Talan Holiday, lefty Spencer Krasner and right-hander Antonio Turco-Rivas.
Holiday, a junior, has committed to North Carolina after going 9-1 with a 1.28 ERA last year, tossing a team-high 65 2/3 innings. Krasner, a sophomore, is committed to Virginia. The lefty was 5-1 with a 2.19 ERA in 38 1/3 innings. Turco-Rivas had a 2.12 ERA and logged 36 1/3 innings.
The Patriots are looking for pitchers Mark Aleman, Gabe Rozenfeld and Tata Marrero to step up in expanded roles.
“These guys have developed,” Aven said. “Now, it’s about pushing it to the next level. I think this is where I’m going to help them with a little bit more development. Not just high school, but let’s think about what we need to do to get them to the next level, and that’s college. When they’re in college, are they ready to succeed? Not just getting by in high school.”
