Arlain Sesin’s Walk-Off Single Lifts Southridge Past Coral Reef

With the score tied at 2 going into the seventh, the Southridge Spartans gave up four runs in the top of the inning but then rallied for five runs in the bottom of the inning to down Coral Reef 7-6 on Thursday night.

“This might be one of the best comebacks in our school history,” Spartans coach Ed Doskow said. “Our kids didn’t panic. They were still confident that they were gonna do this.”

After giving up the four runs in the top of the seventh, the Spartans responded with four hits and four RBI before Arlain Sesin brought in Steven Paredes for the winning run to help Southridge improve to 6-4 in 8A District 16 and 10-8 overall.

“We surprised ourselves with a four-run inning,” Coral Reef coach David Bisceglia said. “We should be able to win with a four-run lead, but it’s high school baseball, and that’s what makes it so exciting.”

Coral Reef didn’t get a hit until the fourth, but the Barracudas took advantage of a few mistakes by the Spartans early in the second inning to jump out to a two-run lead as Coral Reef pitcher Daniel Lann and the Barracudas’ defense shut down the Spartans to start with nine straight outs through three innings. Lann finished the night with five strikeouts.

“We missed a couple of routine plays early, and their pitcher Lann mixed it up very well,” Doskow said. “We knew he was good and he got us early.”

Christian Khawam knocked the first hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth for the Spartans, who moved into second place in the district. Steven Paredes then drove in Khawam with an RBI single and Octavio Mirabal was walked with the bases loaded, bringing in Paredes to tie the game 2-2.

Spartans pitcher Osvaldo Garcia kept the game tied until the seventh when Coral Reef’s Jakobi Smith struck his second hit of the day for an RBI single, bringing in Thomas Gordan. Garcia, who struck out nine and gave up just five hits, was relieved by Nick Gensler.

The Spartans walked Carlo Ugalde with the bases loaded, bringing in Alain Aguiar from third. Brandon Johnson then brought in two runs with an RBI double to give the Barracudas what looked to be a secured four-run lead.

Southridge began the rally in the bottom of the seventh with a single by Anthony Delofeu. Coral Reef allowed the bases loaded by walking the next two batters. Christian Khawam then belted a deep shot to center field that appeared to travel for a grand slam, which would have tied the game, but instead it was ruled a ground-rule double, and only two runs scored. But the Spartans were not deterred as Steven Paredes came up and singled in Khawam to tie the game 6-6. Khawam went 3-for-4 and accounted for four runs.

“He’s one of our go-to guys,” Doskow said about Christian Khawam. “I think our season started turning for the better when we made a switch in the lineup and put him in the lead-off spot. He’s been able to set the tone and is a very patient hitter.”

Coral Reef forced a groundout for its second out of the inning and put the game within one out of extra innings, but freshman Arlain Sesin sent a grounder passed first to bring in Paredes for the winning run.

“It was a great win,” an excited Khawam said after the game. “We made a couple errors early on, but we came back and battled. We saw the curve ball from the beginning, and we said if he hangs it, we got to hit it, and that was our whole approach.”

“In a sad way, this will be a positive thing,” Bisceglia said. “We’re still not out of the playoffs.”

Leave a comment using your facebook account!