Vazquez Dominates; Grand Slam, Home Runs Power Pace Past Gulliver Prep

The Gulliver Prep Raiders have ended the Monsignor Pace Spartans’ high school baseball season the last two years. But in 2012, it was Pace’s turn to end the Raiders’ season with the help of a dominating performance from senior Raphael Vazquez on the mound and a hitting showcase from the entire lineup.

“Gulliver ended our season the last two years,” said Pace head coach Tom Duffin after the game, “but we weren’t going to be denied in our house this year.”

At first, however, it looked like it might be Gulliver’s game.

After a quick and scoreless first inning, Adrian Marin led off the second for Gulliver with a double down the left-field line. He advanced to third and then home on wild pitches with no further hits in the inning.

In the bottom half of the second, Pace’s Brandon Gomez led off with a hard single through the left side. Later in the inning, Anthony Cruz hit a ball about 390 feet, just short of the center-field fence for a very long out. A walk put men on first and second and then Pace shortstop Bryan Bermudez knocked a single to left and Gomez was sent home on the play. However, Gomez was gunned down at the plate by Gulliver’s left fielder to end the inning.

After two it was 1-0 Gulliver and the game’s momentum seemed to be swinging the Raiders’ way.

But in the third the power of the vuvuzelas, and the passion of Pace’s home crowd seemed to switch the momentum by sheer force of will. Vazquez found his groove and went 1-2-3 with two strikeouts in the top of the third, and in the bottom, Pace unleashed its bats.

The Spartans started the third at the top of their order and ended it at the bottom. What happened in between was, to put it mildly, exciting.

With Alex Perez on second and Aaron Soto on first Pace three-hole hitter David Palenzuela ripped a double down the right-field line, scoring Perez. Two batters later, Gomez was intentionally walked to load the bases for Manny Pazos. Pazos proceeded to hit a grand slam over the left-field fence and Pace’s team and fans went wild. Gulliver then pulled its starter and the next batter, catcher Anthony De La Cruz, hit another home run. At the end of three, it was Spartans 6, Raiders 1.

“They walked the guy in front of me and I was thinking, ‘somehow I have to come through for our team,'” Pazos said of his grand slam that broke the game open. “I was thinking first pitch curve-ball all the way. I’ve been working on my swing all throughout this season and I put everything in that swing.”

He also got some help from a song in his head…

“What I do is I hear a song in my head,” Pazos said, “I try to block out everything, and I was at a good part of the song when I hit it.”

Slightly stunned, Gulliver attempted to recoup from the dramatics at Pace’s home field. Sophomore Joe Dunand was able to hit a sacrifice fly to knock in Christopher Chinea, who had walked earlier in the inning, but that is all the Raiders could do, as they still weren’t able to get a hit off Vazquez, who had four strikeouts and had only allowed one hit through four.

“That was the best feeling I ever had,” Vazquez said of his performance. “I came from another school to this school and I want to thank the coach from St. Brendan, he gave me a good scouting report and a good speech.”

Apparently it was a great report because Vazquez finished his day with seven strikeouts, only allowing four hits and two walks on the night.

In the bottom of the fourth David Palenzuela hit his second double of the game, this time off the deep center-field fence. Then Brandon Gomez came up again with two men on, but this time Gulliver didn’t walk him to load the bases. But perhaps they should have because Gomez hit a three-run home run, making the score 9-2.

In the top of the sixth, the senior catcher for Gulliver, Chinea, hit a rocket over the left-field fence that might still be traveling. But that is all the Raiders could muster.

Vazquez was pulled in the seventh for senior Alex Mateo who swiftly closed the door on Gulliver’s season. He struck out the last batter of the game and threw his glove and went to his knees (Think Jesse Orosco when the Mets won the ’86 World Series).

“He (Mateo) is a senior and he’s been hurt this year so I was happy that he got to close the game,” Vazquez said about handing the ball over in the seventh.

When asked if he was surprised at how well his team hit against a strong Gulliver team, Duffin credited the fact that he stacked his schedule this season, as he does every season.

“We face a great schedule every year. We go out and play the very best so we are ready for this time of the season,” Duffin said. “But the main thing is that we executed as a team, and my hat goes off to our players.”

Pace will now move on to play for the 4A state championship in Port St. Lucie next week.

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