Goleman Beats Reagan With Big Hits And Good Pitching

The Goleman Gators got some timely hits on Friday afternoon to score runs early and hold off Ronald Reagan 10-6 in an important District 8A-14 game for both teams.

Michael Barreneche got things started for the Gators in the first inning with a lead-off single. Center fielder Cory Garrasstazu came up two batters later and drove a pitch into the right-center gap for a two-run double.

The top of Goleman’s lineup caused problems for Reagan again in the top of the third. Barreneche and Erick Delgado both reached base on walks. After two quick outs, it was Rolando Martinez who came up with the clutch two-run double this time around.

The Bison went into the bottom half of the third down 4-0 but were not discouraged and got right back in the game with a big inning of their own. Center fielder Michael Diaz was able to knock a single through the infield. He then used his speed to steal second base and get in scoring position. Brandon Romero came up later on and singled into left field, which Goleman’s left fielder had a little trouble with as he was not able to field it cleanly. The error allowed the Bison to score and also for Romero to advance to second.

Goleman made another mistake in the inning after a hard-hit ball from Reagan’s Phillip Melo bounced off the second baseman, and as he rushed back to get the ball, he threw poorly toward home and the ball went over the catcher’s reach. Joey Diaz also tacked on an RBI single in the inning to close the gap to a 4-3 ball game after three innings.

The game settled down for a while as Goleman’s starting pitcher Sean Carrasco got into a nice rhythm and forced 13 of the Bison hitters to ground into routine plays for outs.

“Sean is a 10th-grader that is a nice little pitcher,” Goleman head coach Jose Fernandez said. “He does a good job throwing strikes and mixing his speeds.”

The sixth inning proved to be another big inning for the Gators as they tacked on another four runs. Goleman drew three walks and got a perfectly executed bunt single from Ronald Membribes to add a run and also leave the bases loaded for Erick Delgado. Delgado cleared the bases with a double to the left-field corner and extend the lead to 8-3. Reagan drove in a run in the bottom half of the inning to make the game 8-4 going into the seventh.

Goleman added two more insurance runs in the seventh with some good base-running and some fundamental baseball.

“We had a lot of timely hits today that were big for us,” Fernandez said. “We are counting on these big hits because we are a very young team, and we are still learning.”

The Bison did not shy away from the challenge of a 10-4 deficit and came up to the plate swinging in the seventh. Michael Diaz reached base on a walk and moved into scoring position after Brandon Romero got his second single of the game. Phillip Melo came up next and drilled a deep ball into center field for a two RBI triple. The bench came alive again, but the Gator’s reliever Jonathan Aguiar came into the game and got the batter to fly out to first baseman Kevin Gomez.

Gomez had an active afternoon at first base as he made a number of nice defensive plays on hard-hit ground balls that came his way throughout the game.

“We have won quite a few games on defense this year, and this was the first time Gomez played first base,” Fernandez said. “He is a ninth grader that has done a very nice job there and has really helped out our team.”

Ronald Reagan looks to bounce back in another district game Tuesday against Coral Gables while the Gators will play Miami High at home the same day.

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