Miami Sunset Holds Off Southwest Miami 5-4

Miami Sunset Knights battled a competitive Southwest Miami team in district play Tuesday but were able to snatch the road victory, 5-4.

Southwest Miami led early with a two-run homer by Alex Mangano, but the Knights retaliated in the third with lead-off man Micheal Centeno singling to left, followed by a single to right field off the bat of Danillo De Armas. Micheal Paez’s two-run, ground-rule double tied the game at 2-2.

Later on in the fifth, the Knights loaded the bases and took advantage of a hit-by-pitch on Andy Perez to bring in Jorge Lopez, making the game 4-2.

But Southwest Miami answered back in the bottom of the fifth. Luis Gutierrez came home on relief pitcher Ryan Quitero’s wild pitch, the Eagles then tied the game after Carlos Pena’s RBI double brought in Alex Perera.

The drama only intensified when Knights Micheal Centeno drove a onerous ball toward shortstop Luis Aviles to bring in pinch-runner William Weises for a 5-4 lead. Centeno’s RBI single would be his third hit, yet his most important.

Southwest still had two innings to match the Knights, but it was time for Quitero’s arm to shut the door, and he did just that, striking out all three of the batters he faced in the final inning, finishing with seven strikeouts in three innings.

Knights Coach Armando Pelaez praised his senior pitcher after the game.

“He’s our ace, and we’re just trying to work him in a little bit,” Pelaez said.

Despite suffering tendinitis in his throwing arm, Quintero and coach Pelaez felt he was ready to go for tonights game.

“Normally, I would start,” Quintero said. “Getting on the mound with no one on base just feels comfortable for me, and with district play, I wanted to be out there.”

Coach Pelaez knows district wins don’t come easy but his young team still has room for improvement.

“It was a good W for our first district game” Pelaez said. “It was a little ugly but a tribute to these guys because they found a way, and I’m proud of them.”

It wasn’t all glorious as the knights left 10 men on base, something that concerned Pelaez.

“Two or three more hits with those runners in scoring position, we could have really opened up the game,” he said. “We left them of the hook, but they found way.”

Even though the Knights walked away victorious, Southwest Miami coach Jose Torres believes in his young team.

“Its a young team, and we expected to make dumb mistakes early in the year,” Torres said. “We just have to learn from them and try to move ahead. We just got to grow up. We’re young and made silly mistakes and hung our heads a little bit, but we just got to grow up.”

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