Goleman Holds Off Neighboring Hialeah 2-1

Last season ended for the Goleman Gators in regional quaterfinals at the hands of the Hialeah Thoroughbreds in a high-scoring affair. Thursday night’s rematch displayed more of a pitching duel.

Jonathan Aguiar struck out seven, gave up only two hits and picked up his first win of the year as the Gators held off a late rally to win 2-1.

Aguiar, holding onto a one-run lead, stranded seven runners as the Gators improved to 8-3.

“He kept us in the ball game the whole day,” Goleman Manager Jose Lopez said. “Both teams were grinding it out, but we had a pitcher on the mound that gave us his best.”

Goleman attacked from the start. Leadoff hitter Erick Delgado open the ball game with a rip to center field for a triple. Joshua Guia followed with a grounder to shortstop that brought in Delgado.

Hialeah fought back in the second inning.  Robert Carmona was walked to first, Kevin Betancourt then cranked an RBI double to right center field, tying the game at 1 a piece.

Jose Santos and the Gators loosened up at the plate in the fourth inning. Santos was able to squeeze a hit passed the first baseman for a single before Javier Perdomo and Kevin Gomez also had base hits, loading the bases. Michael Berreneche followed with an unbeatable bunt to the left of the mound, bringing in the winning run.

Aquiar begun to look off his mark in the fifth inning, walking Thoroughbreds Carlos Reyes. Reyes stole second and third base, giving Hialeah the tying run in scoring position. But Aguiar answered with a four-pitch strikeout and forced a groundout and pop fly to end the inning.

“When runners get on base is when I really zone in, and then nobody can touch me,” Aguiar said. “As the innings kept coming, my fastball kept getting stronger and stronger.”

The Thoroughbreds’ Gilbert Maldonado singled in the sixth inning, giving Hialeah its second hit of the night. However, with two outs already in hand, Aguiar recorded another strikeout, stranding another runner. Aguiar and the Gators’ defense forced three straight outs in the final inning.

Aguiar threw his glove to the ground in elation after throwing his seventh strikeout for the final out of the game.

“Even though this is a non district game, this is always a game we want to win,” Gators Manager Lopez said. “With both being local teams, we have so much history and this being the team that we lost to in the finals last year really made us want to come here and play hard.”

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