Ferguson Seizes 2-1 Road Victory Over Southwest Miami

Just as a rally was building for Southwest Miami (2-4) in the final inning, Ferguson Falcons’ pitcher Victor Morrell found the strike zone to get the final out, sealing a 2-1 District 8A-15 road win for the Falcons (4-2).

Morrell relieved pitcher Brandon Valentin in the fourth after Valentin struck out half of the the 14 batters he faced.

“Our pitchers stepped up tonight,” Ferguson coach Josa Novas said. “Valentine had a good outing, when he throws strikes, he is very difficult to hit. He was dominant early.”

The Falcons grabbed an early lead after Carlos Tapia chopped a bases-loaded infield single that brought in Jesus Fuenmayor.

A Kevin Rodriquez sac bunt put Anthony Tucker in position to score in the fourth. Then Fuenmayor made his mark in the game again as he doubled to right, knocking in Tucker for the Falcons second run.

Southwest created a strong threat to score in the bottom of the fourth after a walk to Bryan Carreras and Robert Cancio’s line drive to center was accompanied by another walk to Chris Mourelle, loading the bases with no outs. But the Falcons brought in Morrell, who proceeded to shut down the next three batters, recording two strikeouts and a ground-out to close the inning with no damage done.

“It was really a pitching win today those guys pitched their tails off,” Novas said.

While Southwest still searched for their first run, Ferguson tried to add to its lead in the fifth after Carlos Tapia knocked his third single of the game. His hit was followed by a linedrive up the middle by Jose Brito and then an error put Christopher Bec on first, loading the bases for the Falcons. However, Southwest’s Zack Gonzalez recorded his sixth strikeout of the game to get out of the inning. The Falcons left nine men on base on the night.

It wasn’t until the sixth inning that the Eagles started to rally. Robert Cancio dropped his second hit of the night past the left fielder for a double. Alex Mangano singled between the third baseman and shortstop, knocking in Cancio for Southwest’s first run, but Morrell shut the door again with with another strikeout, holding the Falcons lead to 2-1.

Alexis Cuevas began the rally for Southwest in the seventh with his single to left field putting the tying run on base. A sac bunt put Cuevas on second, and after a fly out made it two outs in the inning, Luis Avila reached first and Cuevas was 90 feet from home plate. But that would be the closest Cuevas got as Victor Morrell recorded his fifth strikeout to secure the road win for the Falcons.

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