Carrasco Goes The Distance As Goleman Defeats Gables

Goleman Gators pitcher Sean Carrasco had a thought in the back of his mind as he led his team to a victory over District 8A-14 rival Coral Gables. The junior right-hander had never pitched a complete game before.

So when Carrasco struck out six consecutive Cavalier hitters to seal the win, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

“It’s my first complete game and it’s about time,” he said with a smile. “I’ve gone six and one-third innings like 10 times already.”

Led by Carrasco’s 10 strikeouts, the Gators (4-1, 1-1 District 8A-14) defeated the Cavaliers 4-1 on Thursday night at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens.

After a scoreless first inning, Coral Gables struck first in the top of the second when sophomore Coco Montes hit a single to lead off the inning. The next batter, Franky Montesino hit a grounder back to the pitcher to move Montes over to second base. After Carrasco walked Carlos Perez, he struck out catcher Rolando Rodriguez, which put Yoan Gonzalez up to bat with runners on first and second and two outs. Gonzalez delivered with an RBI double to center field to put the Cavaliers (2-3, 1-1 District 8A-14) up 1-0. After the Gonzalez double, Carrasco did not allow a hit for the remainder of the game.

The Gators responded at the bottom of the second after Cory Garrastazu drew a leadoff walk and then stole second base to before the next batter, Javier Perdomo belted an RBI single to left to knot the game at 1-1. However, Rodriguez turned the tides back in Gables favor when he caught the runner napping at first base to record the first out of the inning. Pitcher J.C. Rodriguez forced a groundout and pop out to end the inning.

Goleman did not waste any time in its next at-bat in the third inning when lead off hitter Erick Delgado hit a ball to the gap in left-center field for a triple. The Gators took the lead when Michael Barreneche hit a ground ball to the shortstop which allowed Delgado to score and put the Gators up 2-1.

Goleman tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Perdomo started the inning with a lead off walk, before Kevin Gomez played possum by flashing the bunt before pulling up and connecting on a ground ball up the middle for a single. After Joshua Guia grounded out to move the runners over, Perdomo got caught in a rundown between third and home after a wild pitch but ended up scoring after an errant throw. With a runner on third, the next batter Jonathan Jhones hit a blooper that dropped in left-center field that allowed Gomez to score for an RBI single.

The Gators were bitten by the base running bug again when a runner was caught trying to steal third base. The inning ended shortly after when the Barreneche hit a pop up to left field for the final out.

The remainder of the game was the Carrasco show when he retired 16 of the final 17 Cavalier hitters to earn the victory. Carrasco finished with 10 strikeouts along with two hits, one run, and three walks allowed in the complete game effort.

“He gives a tremendous chance to win ball games,” Goleman Manager Jose Lopez said. “He throws a lot of strikes and he showed it today, he was excellent out there.”

For Coral Gables Manager Phillip Wisser, he knows his team is going to face some challenges with its youth and inexperience.

“We’re a really, really, really young group this year, we lost a lot of seniors and its going to be a process for us,” he said. “I just told them to keep their heads up and keep working.”

Leave a comment using your facebook account!