Southwest Miami Gets First District Win Over Braddock

The Braddock Bulldogs were excited to be playing their first home game of the season Thursday afternoon as they hosted Southwest Miami. The school had a couple of special guests come out and be a part of the ceremonial first pitch. G. Holmes Braddock, the man the school is named after, and former Bulldog Harold Martinez, who is playing in the Phillies minor league system, threw out the first pitch together.

“Mr. Braddock is an integral part of our school, and he comes to our functions and its great having him out here,” Braddock head coach Manny Fernandez said. “Then Harold is someone who comes out to practice every day, and we are very proud to have him out here.”

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs and their fans, Southwest Miami was able to pull out a 3-1 victory.

The Southwest Miami Eagles were led by their pitcher Fernando Rabel, who pitched a complete game and allowed only one run that came in the bottom of the sixth. He was able to get through innings quickly by forcing many Bulldogs to hit routine fly balls. Rabel finished the afternoon with four strikeouts and allowed six hits in his seven innings of work.

“Fernando is something else,” Southwest Miami head coach Jose Torres said. “He is just going to keep the ball down, throw strikes and is a tough kid to hit.”

Braddock’s starting pitcher Erne Valdes also had a good performance on the mound. Valdes pitched six innings and only gave up three hits, but the Eagles capitalized on a few mistakes in the third inning.

The Eagles got on the score board in the third when right fielder Bryan Carreras hit an RBI single to left field that brought in Danny Casals. After what many believed to be an inning-ending strikeout, a passed ball allowed for Robert Cancio to reach base safely. More importantly, the passed ball allowed for Luis Aviles and Carreras to come around and score after an error occurred on the same play. This gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead that proved to be enough for the win.

Valdes settled down after the mistakes and record three strikeouts in the following two innings.

The Bulldogs were unable to put together enough hits to get anything going throughout the game. In the sixth inning, back-to-back singles from Tommy Ordiales and David Jervis allowed for Braddock to get on the board and make the game 3-1. However, they were unable to do anything else at the plate to help out Valdes.

“It’s baseball. We scored 40 runs in the last three games,” coach Manny Fernandez said. “Today we only scored one, and their pitcher (Rabel) did a phenomenal job.”

Southwest Miami was happy to secure its first district victory of the year as it bounced back after a tough loss Tuesday.

“It was a nice win for our young team especially on the road,” coach Jose Torres added. “We are in a very tough district, so if you fall behind three or four games, its tough to overcome.”

Southwest Miami’s next game will be another district battle against Ferguson on Tuesday night at home.

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