Fernandez Shines As #4 Brito Tops #2 Westwood Christian

The best-kept secret in Miami was let out of the bag on Tuesday afternoon. The #4 Brito Panthers, who have flown under the radar for much of the season, announced their presence as one of the top teams in the county by defeating the #2 Westwood Christian Warriors 7-3 on the road.

The Panthers had only one loss coming into the highly anticipated rematch with Westwood. Their lone loss of the season came back on February 26th, at the hands of the district rival Warriors. Tuesday the Panthers came out with intensity and determination, and that, along with some big hits, moved Brito into a tie for the lead in 2A-15.

The Warriors went with their ace, Danny Garcia on the mound, and they figured he would be opposed by the Panthers’ Richie Sotolongo, but Brito threw a curve ball at Westwood before the game even began, instead choosing to start Angel Cortes. The move paid off, as the Panthers scored two runs in the first, and then watched Cortes throw four innings of one-hit ball.

“I was hoping we would score early this way I could focus in on just throwing strikes and letting my defense play behind me,” said Cortes. “So when we got two in the first, that was big for me on the mound.”

For the Panthers, Savian Fernandez had the big hits to extend the lead for Brito. In the fifth, Fernandez hit a solo home run to right-center, and then in the sixth, drove in two more runs with a two-out single. Fernandez finished the day 3-for-4 with three RBIs. He also made a key defensive play to end a Warriors rally.

“Last time we faced him (Garcia), we were swinging at a lot of his off-speed stuff,” said Fernandez. “This time, we wanted to be more patient with the off-speed and attack the fastball. I saw the short fence in right and decided before the game that I was just going to try and sit back and hit the ball the other way.”

Joining the hit parade for the Panthers were Marcos Bolanos and Andy Herrera, who had two hits apiece in the game. Lead-off hitter JC Milan scored two runs for Brito, who ran their record to 10-1.

After throwing four shutout innings, Cortes turned the ball over to Sotolango for two innings. A double-play and a fly-out helped Sotolongo escape a jam in the sixth, allowing only one run.

In the seventh, Westwood mounted their biggest threat of the day. Danny Fernandez and Miguel Gonzalez led off the inning with singles, before Brito Manager Pedro Guerra called on Julio Gonzalez to shut the door. Adam Quinones and Anthony Gonzalez promptly hit back-to-back run-scoring singles, cutting the lead to 7-3. Gonzalez then got the first out of the seventh via strikeout, and secured the save with the Panthers’ third double-play of the game.

“That lefty did a great job early against us, had us off balance,” said Westwood Manager Luis Padron. “We thought Sotolongo would start, so we were a little surprised. We had some chances today, but the double-plays and some base-running mistakes cost us. That’s a great team over there in Brito, and now we’re 1-1 against them. We look forward to the challenge of playing them again later in the year.”

That match-up is one that will be highly anticipated. The Panthers and Warriors know that being in the same district, only one of them can reach their ultimate goal and make it to states. That is why despite the 10-1 record, Guerra knows there is more work to be done.

“We’ve been improving every game,” said Guerra. “And we are still a team that can be even better. Today was a very important game to build the kids confidence, and so that they understand what they need to do to get over the hump come playoff time.”

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