Braddock Uses Bats To Beat Coral Park 18-11
Braddock’s David Jervis at the plate during Tuesday’s macthup against Coral Park. Jervis was the winning pitcher and went 3-for-4 with two home runs.
Players from Braddock and Coral Park know each other well, which always makes for a spirited game between the two. Many of these players grew up playing little league baseball together. Braddock’s head coach Manny Fernandez is even a former Coral Park Ram.
“Its always fun to come out and compete with them,” Fernandez said.
However, this time around, the Braddock Bulldogs used their bats to come up with a big 18-11 win over the Rams.
The runs came early and often for Braddock, as it was able to score in every inning besides the fifth. Bulldogs’ catcher Victor Marin got it all started when he hit a double down the right-field line in the first inning. Marin then stole third base and eventually came in to score on a wild pitch.
Braddock’s Albert Rafael kept the offense going with an infield single down the third-base line to lead off the second inning. Carlos Cabrera was up next and reached base after being hit by a pitch. Both players came into score after a couple of wild pitches and a balk, and the Bulldogs led 3-0 going into the bottom half of the second.
It was then Coral Parks turn to get on the score board. Braddock’s starting pitcher David Jervis began to have some issues with his control and walked three batters and hit another with a wild pitch.
“Jervis is a phenomenal young man, but he is just learning to pitch really,” Fernandez said. “He’s got great stuff, but he could get a little erratic sometimes and be effectively wild.”
With the bases loaded, Rams shortstop Cesar Ramirez gave his team a 5-3 lead with one swing of the bat as he hit a grand slam over the right-center-field fence.
“Cesar has a lot of offensive talent,” Coral Park head coach Adrian Casanova said. “He could definitely be one of the better hitters in the district if he puts his mind to it and comes out to play everyday.”
The Bulldogs answered with a big inning of their own in the third. Tommy Ordiales, Victor Marin, Carlos Cabrera and David Jervis had hits that contributed to the seven-run inning for the team. However, Jervis’ three-run home run was the biggest of them all as he helped his own cause and was credited with the win on the mound. The big inning gave Braddock a 10-5 lead.
Braddock added three more runs in the top of the fourth as Jervis added another RBI to his total, driving in Carlos Cabrera again. Ramirez came up big again with a triple in the bottom half of the fourth and scored on an error later in the inning.
Justin Miranda, a Braddock reliever, came into the game during the third inning and pitched three and one-third innings, striking out five and giving up four hits.
“He does a good job throwing strikes, and he was able to settle things down for us,” head coach Manny Fernandez said.
Brian Hernandez added two nice hits for the Bulldogs in the sixth and seventh inning to keep the game out of reach. Jervis also hit another home run to right field in the sixth. He finished 3-for-4 with two home runs and six RBI.
Coral Park fought to the end and scored five runs in the last two innings. Alex Marquez and Ryan Palenzuela both hit doubles in the sixth inning and scored. In the seventh, Brandon Gutierrez and David Alonso doubled. Adrian Cuesta and Palenzuela added a few RBI to end the game.
“We just need to limit our mistakes,” Casanova said. “We are inexperienced for the most part, but 11 runs should be plenty to win baseball games for us.”
Coral Park will face Ferguson on Thursday for another district matchup. Braddock will host Southwest on Thursday afternoon.
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