South Miami Shocks Braddock 6-1 For Big District Victory

For anyone sleeping on South Miami this season, that loud noise you are hearing is alarm bells sounding off.

Behind a very complete performance in all phases, the host Cobras sent a message to the rest of their district by shutting down visiting Braddock 6-1 on Tuesday afternoon at South Miami High in Glenvar Heights.

South Miami (3-2) improves to 1-1 in District 8A-15 with its first home victory of the season.

After going 5-7 in District 15 last season, including 1-1 against the Bulldogs (2-2, 1-2), the Cobras are looking to make a splash and catch some teams by surprise.

“There’s no easy games; every district game is a quality game,” Cobras Manager Dennis Pujals said. “They were picked to win the district, by you guys. But I like being the underdogs.”

Christian Crespo came up with the winning hit on the day during a five-run second inning that broke things wide open.

The senior left fielder crushed a shot to deep left field with the bases loaded, sending all three runners home on his third double of the season.

“I was not trying to do too much, just put the ball in play. Fortunately I got a good hit and put my team on top,” Crespo said, after finishing 2-for-3 on the day. “Coach Pujals has trust in me and it feels really good when a coach has that faith in you. You feel that pressure off of you and I am confident in myself. It feels really good to give back to the team.”

After retiring the first two batters in a scoreless game, the Bulldogs allowed the next seven consecutive batters to reach base as the Cobras batted around the order.

“It almost came down to that one inning,” Braddock Manager Victor Montalvo said. “We had two outs and nobody on base and then they put five on the board. Give them credit, they executed their plays.”

Steven Brizuela sparked the inning when he sent the first pitch he saw chopping to short, where it took a strange bounce over Braddock shortstop Cris Rivera for a two-out single. After Brizuela reached second on a wild pitch, Alberto Rodriguez lined the ball into shallow right field to bring him home as Brizuela beat the relay throw to the plate to put South Miami on the board.

Ariel Medina walked and Armani Medina singled to load the bases and bring Crespo to the plate, and Crespo also scored on an infield error.

Brizuela was 2-for-3 and Ariel Medina reached all three plate appearances with a pair of walks and was also hit by a pitch.

The run support would be all that was needed for Cobras starter Danny Garmendia.

“When you face a guy like Garmendia you can’t give him that inning,” Montalvo said. “Five runs is a mountain facing a kid like that.”

The senior right-hander improved to 2-1 on the season by putting in his third complete game of the year.

“It always gives the pitcher a good feeling to have some runs for him. It gives you the confidence you can walk a guy or give up a hit,” Garmendia said. “Braddock is a very good team, a good hitting team. I just had my stuff today. I struggled through those first few innings, but then I got my feel for it on the mound.”

Garmendia threw 53 of his 89 pitches for strikes, scattering five hits and four walks with one earned run and three strikeouts.

“Danny did a great job, and the defense was there. That is why we won the game,” Crespo said.

Despite allowing the leadoff batter to reach in five of seven innings, the Bulldogs lone run came when courtesy runner Chris Sanchez came home when Miguel Cardozo drove him in on a fielder’s choice that went for the Cobras lone error on the day.

The South Miami defense turned two inning-ending double plays and catcher Paul Proenza also threw out a runner trying to steal second to end the first inning.

“Pitching and defense wins games,” Pujals said. “We practice all those little things, we practice for double plays, because with one pitch you can be out of the inning. It’s a pitcher’s best friend.”

Even though South Miami held the lead and had Garmendia cruising on the hill, the team continued to play aggressively in trying to capitalize on every scoring opportunity. Runners continued to be aggressive on the bases and hitters continued to drop down sacrifice bunts and play small-ball as necessary.

“Even when you have a little lead, the pressure is still on,” Pujals said. “You cannot relax at all. Even if it’s an eight-run lead, you’ve got to keep putting the pressure on every second. If not, they’ll come right back on you.”

The approach helped the Cobras send home an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth. Ariel Medina drew a leadoff walk and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Armani Medina. Two batters later, Kevin Polo drove him around third and home when he laced a shot past the diving shortstop to increase the lead to 6-0.

The two teams will meet again when Braddock hosts South Miami on April 2nd, and Coach Montalvo is confident that his team will be well prepared when they host the rematch.

“I take solace in knowing that we are a better team then we’re playing,” Montalvo said. “At some point, it’s going to click. We just need to worry about letting Braddock beat us. We keep losing to ourselves. At some point you have to make your own luck, and we haven’t been doing that.”

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