Sharks Feast On Pioneers In Spartan Preseason Classic
Victor Sam rips a single to right field in the waning part of the game.
North Miami High and Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High met at Miami Country Day’s newly minted ballpark as part of the Spartan Preseason Classic.
Though the score ended up a lopsided 18-0, five-inning, mercy-rule win for Mourning, both teams showed a very strong upside.
ATM is a new school but has grown rapidly. North Miami has been around for ages, led by its coach of nearly 30 years, Ken Litman. His teams have run the gamut, but about this one, he said, “We’re young and inexperienced, but these guys are learning quick and we bring a better team to the field everyday.”
A bright spot for the Pioneers was their starting pitcher and offensive power, Victor Sam, who provided the team’s lone hit.
And though the Pioneers had a tough time handling the skipping line drives off the soaked astro turf, they handled themselves defensively.
The real story of the game was on the ATM side of the field, where Jose Reyes (no relation) dominated from the mound. He struck out six while giving up no runs and only one hit. He backed himself up with a double and a sacrifice bunt that brought in a run.
The rest of the Sharks contributed their bats and strong defense. In the first inning, Carlos Zulueta ripped a single with the bases loaded that got past the North Miami right fielder.
Alonzo and Tracy Mourning pitcher Jose Reyes winds up for one his six strikeouts.
Andrew Feldman, Alex Vallejo, David Vaks, Evan Cohen and Juan Cordoba contributed strong hitting performances and each scored at least twice.
“This is our first year as a varsity squad, and we’ve been working towards this first game,” ATM coach Bonilla said. “It’s exciting to see. Jose was shaky at first but he started hitting his spots. I’m happy to see how he’s grown from last year.”
Bonilla was so clearly excited by his team’s victory that he let them run sprints after the game on the track. It’s that same discipline that will make his team better every day.
4 Responses to “Sharks Feast On Pioneers In Spartan Preseason Classic”
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right after this game TERRA vs. Country Day was rained out in the fourth inning but both teams looked very strong. a great pitching battle until the downpour.
Thanks for the update Jason!
Just would like to point out, there’s a quote stating this was ATM’s first game? I was there on Monday (2-6-12) on the 4:00 pm game where TERRA beat ATM 4-1. By my count that would’ve been the first game. By the way TERRA is also in its first year of varsity without seniors, young strong poised team. By appearance and performance TERRA was well prepared, a credit to their coaching.
Thanks Joe D, for the update!