Diaz, Miami Sunset Silence District Foe Ferguson

Behind a solid effort from Danny Diaz, Miami Sunset earned its seventh win of the season Tuesday, defeating Ferguson 7-0 in a District 8A-15 game.

Danny Diaz started on the mound for the Knights (4-0 in district play) and pitched a shutout, recording four strikeouts, 3 hits, and zero runs allowed.

“This district might be the toughest district in the county,” Knights Manager Armando Pelaez said. “Anybody can beat anybody in any given night in our district, so we have to come prepared everyday. We try to stick to the basics and stay on it.”

Diaz gave up just two walks as he held the Falcons scoreless in his second shutout of the season.

“I just kept the ball low and used my curve ball,” Diaz said. “We had everything today from defense, hitting and pitching.”

Diaz started the game throwing only three pitches in the first inning, all resulted in outs.

The Knights wasted no time attacking. Michael Centeno sent a pitch just shy of the right-center fence for a triple. Alfredo Isler followed with a deep shot to right field, traveling over the fence for a two-run homer.

Miami Sunset continued to attack in the third inning. Centeno made it to first safely after a perfectly hit bunt and stole two bases to get to third. Alex Bravo hit a line drive just passed the Falcons’ third baseman, sending Centeno home. Nicholas Machado was walked, setting up a Jorge Lopez’s two-run triple. Lopez connected on an outside pitch, sending it to right field. Giovanni Quintana executed a sacrifice fly, bringing in Lopez for a four-run inning.

“We were aggressive with the bat early setting the tempo,” Pelaez said. “It was the little things like moving the runners over and getting quality at bats, little things we do during practice. Our strength is team speed, and we use that to our advantage and staying aggressive on the bases.”

Diaz and the Knights continued to dominate defensively, forcing 12 straight outs with zero errors as Diaz made the Falcons chase outside pitches resulting in groundouts.

The Knights’ leadoff hitter, Michael Paez, was walked to start the fourth inning. Centeno held his bat at the plate and was sent to first by a way of base-on-balls. Isler was then intentionally walked, loading the bases for Bravo, who grounded to first but was able to bring in Paez for the Knights’ sixth run of the game.

Ferguson’s Kevin Torres had the Falcons’ first hit of the game in the sixth inning. Torres connected on a curve ball sending it straight up the middle for a single. But Diaz was able to regroup, struck out the next batter and forced a pop fly to end the inning.

The Falcons attempted to rally in the top of the seventh inning. Carlos Tapia singled to left field and Jose Britto followed with a walk. The Falcons then seemed to be taking flight as Javier Valdes’ hit traveled just between the reach of the Knights third baseman and shortstop, almost sending Tapia home but a strong throw halted the Falcons to load the bases. The Knights had seen enough, the Falcons struck a line drive that was snagged out of the air by Knights third baseman Gustavo Garcia for the final out.

“It was a good ball game all around,” Palaez said. “We had great pitching and had them off balance all game. We didn’t make errors. I’m proud of these for coming out prepared.

The Falcons fell to 5-3 on this season, 3-2 in 8A-15 play.

“We didn’t come ready to play at it was just one of those days,” Falcons Manager Jose Novas said. “We weren’t ready to play from the moment we got off the bus. We weren’t making adjustments at the plate, and that resulted in a lot of pop-ups. We’re built on pitching and defense, and if players don’t do their job, we’ll be in trouble.”

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