American Handed Its First Loss Of The Season

American and American Heritage were two hot teams coming into their match-up Friday night. The teams were number three and four, respectively, in the first HSBN South Florida Power Rankings released this week. It was Heritage that flexed their muscle with two big home runs, then cruised to an 8-1 victory.

The much-anticipated match-up between two of the top South Florida teams never turned into the battle that most expected, and the Patriots bats had much to do with that. Brandon Diaz, the Patriots’ leadoff hitter, set the tone all night, going 2-for-2, with three walks, three runs, and two stolen bases.

“I’m the table-setter for this team,” said Diaz. “My job is to get on base, steal some bases, and let the power guys behind me drive me in. We’ve started to hit the ball pretty well lately, and I just need to keep finding ways to get on base. When I get on base it sets the tone, so I just have to keep doing my job.”

American scored their lone run off Patriots starter Shaun Anderson in the third, but it did not come without some bad news. With one out, starting shortstop and lead-off hitter Edison Cabrera legged out an infield single. On the play, Cabrera went down with an apparent hamstring injury, and had to be carried off the field. Cabrera’s replacement, Steven Dipuglia, came around to score after a single by Rodney Williams, a walk to Eric Gonzalez, and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kendrick Gutierrez.

Outside of that rally, Anderson held the Patriots bats in check. The senior closed the game with five inning pitched, allowing only four hits while striking out nine. Chatham finished off the final two innings as Heritage ran their record to 8-1.

“We knew these guys were undefeated coming in, but we didn’t let us affect how we approached the game,” said Anderson. “I just wanted to throw strikes and hit my spots. Every time I go out there, I treat every team with the same respect, and approach every game like we are playing against the best team, this way I don’t lose focus.”

The power hitters behind Diaz also did their jobs on this night, but not before a little controversy. In the bottom of the first, with two outs and Diaz on third, Michael Deep hit a trickler down third base, which much of the American dugout and third baseman Romy Gonzalez thought was a foul ball. When the ball was ruled fair, Deeb had an infield hit and the Patriots had a 1-0 lead.

As is often the case after such a play, the baseball gods struck through the bat of CJ Chatham. The Patriots shortstop drilled a two-run home run, upping the score to 3-0.

In the next inning, the Heritage offense struck again. After Jon Felicie and Diaz reached base, it was Zach Collins’ turn to deliver the long ball, launching a three-run shot. Collins was moved up in the lineup by Manager Bruce Aven in an effort to get the offense, which started slowly this year, going.

“We moved Zach up to second in the lineup to give him some protection, and he’s done a great job of taking the walks when teams pitch around him, yet still being ready when he gets his pitch,” said Aven. “Tonight was a good example of that, he took his walks, and when he got his pitch, he hit it out.”

American, now 8-1, will regroup after their first loss of the season and also face a three-game week. The week begins with district match-ups against North Miami Beach and Hialeah, before hosting Southridge on Friday.

Heritage now faces a three-game week, with district rival Pompano sandwiched in-between Dade Christian and Coral Springs Charter.

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