Hialeah Advances Past Goleman After Epic 10-Inning Slugfest

In our first year covering the Miami-Dade high school baseball scene, we have already become very familiar with the players, coaches and parents surrounding this wonderful sport.

One of the first characters we encountered was Hialeah slugger Cody Fulton, who knocked in a game-changing run in the very first game of the regular season. One month into the season, Fulton and HSBN crossed paths once again when the senior slugger bashed a homer and knocked in three runs in a win over Reagan. Meanwhile, Fulton was emerging under his father/head coach’s tutelage with over a .400 batting average and a bulky bat in an already potent lineup. Thursday, Fulton’s bat came to the rescue once again.

Fulton hit a three-run blast as part of a six-run comeback early in the game, then delivered his fifth hit of the game, the go-ahead RBI in the top of the 10th as the Hialeah Thoroughbreds barely scathed out a 15-14 win over the Goleman Gators Thursday in an epic regional semifinals slugfest that lasted 4 hours and 54 minutes.

“In all my years in baseball—as a player, assistant and head coach—I have never seen anything like this,” T-Breds coach Michael Fulton told reporters following the game. “I’m really proud of our guys for sticking to it and never giving up.”

Either team could have given up a number of times during the nearly five-hour match, which saw both sides unhappy with a wild strike zone from the home plate umpire. At one point, the umpire actually called a ball and went back and re-called a strike.

Hialeah scored first, but found itself in an 8-2 hole after two innings. The defending regional champs clawed back to take a 12-9 lead, only to see their lead disappear in a wild bottom of the seventh. Hialeah’s one-run lead in the top of the ninth was once again short-lived, and they needed both runs in the top of the 10th to survive yet another Goleman comeback.

“At first, when were down 8-2, I was in shock – this can’t happen,” the younger Fulton said about the torturous sway of emotions endured throughout the marathon match. “After making it to the state semifinals last year, I loved that feeling and wanted to get back. Refuse to lose.”

Fulton’s three-run shot highlighted a six run comeback, Lian Roque tied the game at nine and Edel Luaces drew a bases loaded walk to retake the lead for Hialeah.

“That was one of the maybe two homers this season I knew was gone right off the bat,” Fulton said about the at bat in the top of the fifth. “I just tried to stay with the pitch, swing all the way through the zone and trust my instincts.”

The Thoroughbreds took a 12-9 lead into the bottom of the ninth, only to watch usually-reliable ace Nestor Cortes cough up three runs off two hits, a walk and a game-tying single off the bat of Carlos Valdes.

“It went wild for us,” Cortes, who at one point was one strike away from a win in regulation, said about the chaotic seventh frame. “I was trying to throw strikes, but obviously I didn’t get it over. They are a great-hitting team, they battled.”

The 8A-14 district champion Gators didn’t let anything come easy for Hialeah, which failed to hold a one-run lead in the ninth when it looked like it was finally going to pull it off. The T-Breds answered with two more runs in the 10th, but saw the tying run get all the way to third base before a hustle play from Cortes on a dribbler down the line finally sealed the win.

“I’m so proud of my guys,” Gators head coach Jose Fernandez told HSBN. “The thing is, hopefully we will learn for the future. We have a young team that gained some valuable experience going further than anyone really expected. Next year, when these guys get older – we”ll be the ones to get the win.”

A lot of people counted the Gators out in a very tough division when they lost their top two starters early in the season. Senior catcher Carlos Sosa, pitcher Jorge Jaramillo and Fernandez’ son Michael stepped up to surpass expectations.

“My seniors are what made this team go, stepping up for us when we needed it the most,” Fernandez pointed out.

Hialeah goes on to face a tough Gables team, led by ace Dillan Maya coming off a no-hitter against Hialeah Gardens, in the regional semifinals next week.

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