Goleman Gators Oust Coral Gables in the 7th to Win the District Championship

The bleachers filled in quickly before the game at St. Thomas University with elated fans awaiting a showdown for the 8A District 14 Championship between the Barbara Goleman Gators and the Coral Gables Cavaliers, and what the fans got was baseball at its finest.

Goleman led 4-1 going into the bottom of the seventh, however, Coral Gables rallied for two runs off three hits and loaded the bases. But the Gators brought in Jonathan Aguiar who recorded three straight strikeouts to shut the door on Coral Gables’ hopes of a district title.

“I knew I had to do it for my team” said Aguiar. “I went out there strong, and knew I was gonna do it.  I’ve been put into tough situations all year and today was my time to shine. I did it for my team.”

A scary moment started the game. Goleman’s lead-off  hitter Erick Delgado silenced the crowd when he was hit in the head by the pitch of Cavaliers starter David Plotkin. After being checked out by medical staff and cleared to continue, Delgado made his way to first. Plotkin found the strike zone and sat down the next three batters.

Sotolongo and the Cavaliers started off on the right foot offensively. Sotolongo singled to left field with one out in their half of the first. Antonio Rodriquez was walked, one of only two Goleman starter Sean Carrasco gave up in his six innings on the mound. Pinero then popped up a sacrifice fly, advancing Sotolongo to third. Sotolongo attempted to steal home but was tagged out by catcher Carlos Sosa at the plate.

Following the first inning neither team sniffed a run until the fourth.  Goleman’s Rolando Martinez and Carlos Sosa got on base by way of base-on-balls. Cory Garrastazu followed and ventured a sacrifice fly but it was dropped and Martinez made it home for the game’s first run. Carlos Valdes reached first on a hard hit ball to the second basemen that was mishandled and Sosa came home off the error to give the Gators a 2-0 lead.

Carrasco was able to keep his pitch count low for Goleman, facing only 18 batters in five innings, but his team found some trouble in the sixth. Sotolongo singled up the middle for the Cavaliers’ fourth hit of the game. In an attempt to catch a stealing Sotolongo, a ball was thrown past second base and into the outfield. Sotolongo dashed to third where again the ball was thrown behind the bag. Sotolongo was able to proceed to home plate safely for the Cavaliers first run.

The Gators entered the final inning up a run, but the team understood that wouldn’t be enough. A vibrant Michael Fernandez stirred his Goleman fans as he was walked on four balls. Barreneche executed a sacrifice bunt to move Fernandez to second. The intensity only amplified when Kevin Gomez was hit by a pitch, putting him on first. Delgado was given the call to lay down another sacrifice bunt, but the Cavs made an error on the play, bringing home a courtesy runner.

The bleeding continued when a Jonathan Jhones grounder was again fumbled, loading the bases, and erupting the crowd into a full on JHONES! chant. Martinez then drove in Gomez with a single to right field. giving Goleman a 4-1 lead.

Coral Gables had scored one run in six innings, but the Cavaliers needed to muster a rally to win. Imad Reinoso got the rally, and the Coral Gables spectators, going when his shot to third base was muffed. Kelvin Nunez followed with a double down the right field line, pushing Reinoso into scoring position at third. Freshman Robert Montes struck his biggest hit of the year right up the middle, bringing in Reinoso. Lead-off hitter Andres Jiron swung on with ice in his veins a shot to left field for a RBI single, bringing the score to 4-3.

Goleman then intentionally walked Sotolongo, loading up the bases. Then they brought in closer Jonathan Aguiar. With only one out and the bases loaded, Aguiar faced perilous hitter Antonio Rodriquez. Aguiar worked Rodriquez into a full count. With one pitch deciding the outcome Aguiar got the power hitter fishing outside and struck him out. Alex Pinero approached the plate with a dramatic scenario, bases loaded, tying run at third, two outs, and the audience at their feet…. but it was Aguiar who walked away victorious, striking out Pinero to end the game and crown the Gators as 8A District 14 Champs.

“I’m just so proud of my guys, ” said Goleman coach Fernandez. “We’re a very young team… We had three ninth graders playing today, and a sophomore pitching. We did some nice stuff today, Jonathan doesn’t pitch a lot, but he has good stuff on the ball. Now we go to regionals.”

“I’m glad of the way we fought” said Coral Gables head coach Phillup Wisser. “We came in the game trying to make the plays, we just made too many mistakes that cost us. We have to go into regionals now and try and bounce back and hopefully we can play these guys again and get our revenge and send them home.”

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