Becton Throws No-Hitter Into The Sixth As Killian Beats Columbus for GMAC Title

The 20-minute rain delay did not slow down Killian on Thursday afternoon. The Cougars jumped out to an early lead and held off the Columbus Explorers to win the Greater Miami Athletic Conference championship 8-1. It is the first time Killian has won the GMAC championship since 1994.

Killian has been on a hot streak the past couple of weeks and has beaten top-notch teams such as Hialeah, South Dade, Goleman, Coral Gables twice, and now top-ranked Columbus. Starting pitcher McLean Becton’s performance was a big reason the Cougars were able to take down the Explorers. He went out and pitched his best game of the season, throwing a no-hitter for five and two-third innings before being taken out following a pair of walks in the sixth inning.

“Becton had one of those days that he will be able to carry with him the rest of his life,” Killian head coach Angel Herrera said. “It couldn’t have happened to a better young man, and watching him grow up in our program has been a joy to watch.”

Becton did not try to overpower hitters, but hit his targets and threw plenty of strikes to force the Explorers to hit a number of ground balls and pop flies. He got into a rhythm early and worked quickly, not giving batters a lot of time in between pitches to keep them off balance.

“Every pitch was working for me today, and I was just trying to throw strikes and let the team make the plays behind me,” Becton said. “It was great being able to pitch with the lead and that gave me a lot of confidence out there.”

Just like in the Cougars’ previous game against Coral Gables, they were able to take the lead early in the first and play ahead the rest of the game. Again, it was Mandy Alvarez who came up with the big home run to left field with Alex Fernandez on first to give Killian a 2-0 lead.

In the second inning, Killian’s Erik Molina singled to left field and later stole second base to get into scoring position. A couple of batters later, Daniel Andrade drove a ball right back up the middle for a base hit to bring in Molina to extend the lead.

Columbus made some noise in the bottom half of the inning in an attempt to get on the scoreboard. Left fielder Brent Diaz reached first base after a wild pitch on a strikeout. He was later caught in a run-down between first and second, but a throwing error that sailed out of play allowed for him to advance to third base. Diaz then tagged up at third in an attempt to score on a deep fly ball to left field, but Killian’s Daniel Andrade made the perfect throw home to get Diaz out at the plate for the third out.

“The defensive effort the last few weeks and especially in this game is probably the most rewarding aspect of our game,” Herrera said. “We put a focus on defense and I took a page out of Coach Calipari’s book, and he doesn’t let the guys leave until they knock down 100 free throws so we made it they can’t go until they field 100 ground balls, and it has translated into playing great on the field.”

Killian made great defensive plays all afternoon long. The Cougar defense was able to turn a couple of big double plays to work their way out of jams and got nice plays from third baseman Molina and shortstop Alvarez on a few hard-hit balls.

The runs continued to come in for Killian in the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, Alfredo Iser walked after being patient at the plate. Iser then stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error. He later scored on a wild pitch that got by the Explorers’ catcher. In the fifth inning, Alvarez got a hold of another pitch and sent it into the left center field gap for a double. Then Spencer Levine doubled with two men on and cleared the bases, and then eventually scored on another double hit by Erik Molina.

“Early in the season, we didn’t hit very well,” Herrera said. “But about a month ago, something clicked and we started winning some big games, and the level of focus and intensity increased, so that brought out the best in our guys I think.”

Becton started to get a little tired and lost some control in the sixth inning. After getting the first two batters out quickly, he walked the following two and coach Herrera made the decision to bring in closer Mike Perez. The crowd stood on their feet and cheered as Becton walked off the field and was met by the rest of his teammates outside of the Killian dugout.

Killian clean-up hitter Nick Mira had been held hitless the whole game, but he was able to change that in the top half of the seventh when he drove one way over the fence in right field for a solo home run and made the game 8-0.

Then in the bottom half of the seventh inning, Columbus pinch-hitter Nelson Mompierre got the team’s first hit and avoided the shut out with a solo home run of his own. Perez settled down, forced a double play and then recorded a strikeout for the final out of the game.

“I don’t know a better coaching staff and team than that Columbus team,” Herrera said. “So getting this win and performance from our kids against a great pitcher like Yency Almonte is pretty special.”

The Cougars schedule does not get any easier as they will play South Dade in the opening game of their district tournament Tuesday. Killian will enjoy this victory but will now turn all its focus to the district tournament because it understands the importance and how competitive next week will be.

“We have a saying: Avoid the curse of prosperity to enjoy the blessings of consistency,” Herrera said. “This group understands that what happened today will have no bearing on what happens on Tuesday, so we will have to be focused and ready for a good South Dade team.”

One Response to “Becton Throws No-Hitter Into The Sixth As Killian Beats Columbus for GMAC Title”