American Beats Hialeah For Fourth Win In A Row

It was a full house with a dozen radar guns behind home plate Monday night at Earnest R. Graham Park as Hialeah squared off against American.

Hialeah’s Nestor Cortez and his fastball drew in the crowd, but it was the Patriots who stole the show with their 9-3 win, their first against Hialeah since 2010.

The Patriots iced the Thoroughbreds ace, capitalized on nine walks and nine hits, and improved to 4-0 on the season, 3-0 in 8A District 13 play.

“We played an all-around game,” Patriots Manager Ricky Gutierrez said. “We pitched well, caught the ball, and we had key hits in big situations. Nestor is a great pitcher and we wanted to make him work and throw more pitches than he wanted to.”

The Thoroughbreds got on base quickly in the first inning, but the resilient play of the Patriots’ defense got out of the inning with a triple play.

Cortez and Hialeah Senior High found themselves in trouble after walking Steven Alvarez, Eric Gonzalez and Kevin Williams in the second inning. With the bases loaded, Edison Cabrera struck a grounder that was misplayed, bringing in Alvarez and Gonzalez.

Alvarez was walked to start the fourth, Gonzalez followed with a double to left center, putting the Patriots runners in scoring position. Matthew Ruiz singled to right field, bringing Alvarez and Gonzalez.

American’s Kevin Peraza threw his fourth strikeout in the bottom of the fourth inning, but a costly error and a single by Cortez gave the Thoroughbreds (1-2) some life. Peraza countered with another strikeout, yet the Thoroughbreds answered with an RBI double by Carlos Reyes. Robert Carmona followed with a single down the line, bringing in Cortez. Kevin Betancourt helped out with an RBI single, giving the Thoroughbreds a three-run inning.

After a high pitch count, Hialeah made a pitching change to start the fifth, but Alvarez and Gonzalez hopped on base after being walked. Williams pelted a deep hit to center field, Williams, rounding second and headed to third, injured himself sliding into third base. The Thoroughbreds attempted to tag out the sliding Williams, but the ball was overthrown, sending a limping Williams home for a three-run inside-the-park home run.

The Thoroughbreds tried to rally in the bottom of the fifth, but Peraza found the strike zone and recorded two strikeouts to end the inning, Peraza threw seven strikeouts in five innings, helping the Patriots secure the victory.

“Everybody played hard and did what they had to do.” Peraza said. “My curve ball was really giving them trouble and my change-up kept them off balance. This was a big momentum win for us. We’ve haven’t beaten Hialeah since 2010, so it was big for us to see what we’re capable of.

The Patriots are hoping to carry this win into Thursday’s game against Monsignor Pace.

“We’re going to take it one game at a time.” Manager Ricky Gutierrez said. “We’ll be on the road again vs. a tough Pace team, but we’re taking it game by game and stay disciplined.”

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