Alvarez’s 2 HRs Power Columbus Over Hialeah

In a rematch between two titans in Class 8A, timely hitting was the difference in a rivalry that has seen great pitching performances in recent battles.

Columbus was finally able to solve Hialeah ace Nestor Cortes, defeating the T-Breds 8-3 in the season opener for both teams.

University of Miami commit Ryan Alvarez was the catalyst for Columbus. He went 4-for-4 with five RBIs and two home runs including an opposite field grand slam that proved to be the difference in the game.

“I hope the University of Miami knows what they’re getting in that kid. He’s a phenomenal player,” Columbus Manager Joe Weber said. “I’ve had a lot of great hitters here, and he’s one of the best I’ve ever seen.”

Early on it appeared as if the game would be another low-scoring battle between the two teams with Cortes dueling Columbus ace Bryan Garcia on the mound.

Garcia, another UM commit, retired the first five Hialeah hitters before allowing a single to catcher Robert Carmona in the second inning.

Columbus finally found a way to hit Cortes, who had only allowed one run to the Explorers in his past two starts against them. After walking the first batter, the left-handed Cortes caught the runner trying to steal second to record the first out. Cortes then forced the next batter Laz Rivera to fly out to the shortstop. Then when it appeared as if Cortes would retire the side, on a 3-2 pitch, Alvarez connected on a deep fly ball over the “blue monster” in left field at Columbus for the solo home run.

“It felt pretty good,” Alvarez said about his first home run. “I was just looking for a good pitch to hit in every at-bat.”

Hialeah responded in the top of third when lead-off hitter Alian Silva hit a two-out single to keep the inning alive. Silva advanced to second after a balk was called on Garcia, then to third after the catcher couldn’t handle a pitch. After Mauricio Cajuso walked, Cortes stepped to the plate with a chance to help his own cause with runners on first and third. Cortes hit a one-hopper that went off of Garcia’s glove allowing Silva to score and tie the game at 1-1.

In the bottom of the frame, Columbus responded with some offense of its own. Pablo De Armas and Kevin Suarez hit back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second. Columbus’ Laz Rivera laid down the intentional sacrifice bunt to move the runners over but he was called safe at first when the umpire claimed the Hialeah first baseman took his foot off of the bag before catching the throw from Cortes. With the bases loaded and no outs for Alvarez, he did not disappoint, driving a ball over the right field fence for a grand slam to put the Explorers up 5-1. Cortes was able to regroup and strikeout the next three batters to end the inning.

Despite the big night from Alvarez, Hialeah managed to keep the game in reach but they couldn’t drive in runs. Garcia pitched a solid game going four and two-third innings allowing two runs, six hits, with seven strikeouts to earn his first win of the season against a team that they may see again in the playoffs.

“It’s a big win, first one of the year for the regular season,” Garcia said. “We know we’ll see them later on.”

For the T-Breds, there were plenty of opportunities to score runs but they weren’t able to get runners across home plate. Hialeah left 10 runners on base in the game including two instances with the bases loaded in the fifth and sixth innings.

“I think we left two or three times with bases loaded and less than two outs and we didn’t get that timely hit,” said coach Johnathan Hernandez.

Despite their struggles at the plate Hialeah realizes that they have plenty of time to right the ship as the season progresses.

“The season is not a sprint its a marathon,” Hernandez said. “We’ll take from the positives we had today and transcend it over to practice the next two days and get ready for Friday.”

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