Goleman Garners District Championship Over Coral Gables

Jonathan Jhones and the Gators tallied in nine runs Friday night.

The Goleman Gators met one of their goals this season: bringing home the district title.

The Gators used a solid hitting attack to beat Coral Gables 9-1 on Friday for the 8A-13 championship.

The Gators went 6-4 in the district this season, but after a 5-4 close win over the Reagan Bison in semifinals, the Gators had to play against the top-seeded Coral Gables Cavaliers. The Cavaliers put together an impressive 9-1 district record this season, yet the Gators and Cavaliers had split the series during the season. Goleman won the first meeting, but the Cavaliers held the Gators scoreless in their second meeting. This time it was for all the marbles.

“Today our bats came alive and was the difference for us today,” Gators Manager Jose Lopez said. “Our defense is pretty solid, we’ve just been waiting for our bats to wake up and they were able to do a great job today. They made a couple mistakes, and we capitalized on them. That’s always important in big games.”

The Gators began their attack right from the start as Erik Delgado was walked on five pitches. He stole second and third and came in on a Cory Garrastazu single for the first run of the game.

Javier Perdomo was able to beat out the throw for a steal.

The Cavaliers responded with a single by leadoff hitter Elih Marrero, who was moved into scoring position by Coco Montes’ sacrifice fly. Jesus Pineda then singled, bringing in Marrero.

Goleman’s Javier Perdomo was walked to start the second inning and quickly stole second base. Jonathan Jhones singled to left field, Michael Barreneche followed with a single of his own, bringing in Perdomo, and Barreneche then stole second. Joshua Guia came to the plate with two outs, but Guia squeezed a shot past the infield, bringing in Jhones and Barreneche.

The Cavaliers gave up three straight walks to Garrastazu, Perdomo and Kevin Gomez in the fifth inning. Rolando Martinez’s sacrifice fly drove in Garrastazu, and Jhones followed with a single, bringing in Perdomo and Gomez for another Gators three run inning.

Joshua Guia lays down a bunt for the Gators.

The Gators’ Guia singled to left field to start the sixth inning. Garrastazu followed with a tough grounder that was mishandled. With runnners in scoring position, Perdomo hit a line drive into the outfield for two runs, giving the Gators a 9-1 lead.

Cavaliers Kelvin Nunez started the rally in the bottom of the seventh inning with a single, but Goleman’s senior pitcher, Eduardo Fernandez, regrouped and forced a shallow fly ball for one out. The Gators then capitalized on a rolling grounder and made a double play to end the game.

Both teams advance to regional quarterfinals next week, with Goleman playing host to Hialeah and Gables traveling to American.

“We face a tough Hialeah team on Wednesday, but as long as our hitting and pitching is there, we’ll have a chance,” Lopez said.

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