Killian Stifles Southridge To Advance To District Final

For the second straight season, the Killian Cougars and the Southridge Spartans met in the 8A-16 playoffs.

And for the second straight season, Killian defeated Southridge 5-1, this time in the district semifinal Tuesday afternoon at Varela High School in Miami.

The Cougars (16-8-1) will defend their district championship when they face the South Dade Buccaneers at 4 p.m. Thursday.

“That’s what we shoot for, for a chance to defend our district championship last year and a chance to qualify for the state playoffs,” Killian Manager Angel Herrera said.

The Cougars used a stellar performance from right-hander Keith Stevens. The soft-spoken sophomore went the distance against Southridge (11-10), allowing four hits, one run, along with six strikeouts in seven innings.

“It was just an all-around team win,” Stevens said with his right elbow wrapped in a large bag of ice. “We played good baseball and we played for each other.”

Killian’s bats wasted no time giving Stevens a cushion in the first inning. After leadoff hitter Joey Gonzalez drew a walk. Gil Polanco moved him to second with a sacrifice before senior Nick Mira drove a pitch to center field to bring home Gonzalez on an RBI single.

After a passed ball and a ground out by Mike Perez allowed Mira to advance to third, junior Spencer Levine connected on a deep fly ball to bring Mira home on a sacrifice fly, before Spartans pitcher Dayron Moreno forced a pop out to end the inning.

For Southridge, the offense couldn’t muster enough runs to help them win the game.

The Spartans were held to two hits through the first five innings thanks to Stevens and solid defense from the Cougars.

“He pitched a great ball game, kept the ball down and kept his team in the game,” Southridge Manager Ed Doskow said. “We didn’t help ourselves on the bases but he kept his composure and got big outs when he needed to.”

Killian added another run at the top of the third inning. With one out and no one on, Polanco connected on a deep fly ball over the left field fence for the solo home run to put the Cougars up 3-0.

Southridge looked to answer back in the bottom of the frame. After Josten Heron was hit by a pitch, Diandre Amion singled to right field to put runners on first and second with one out.

However, Killian doused the flames when Stevens forced Christian Khawam and Octavio Mirabal into consecutive ground outs to end the inning.

The Spartans offense finally made some noise in the bottom of the sixth inning. After Khawam drew a walk with one out, Mirabal connected on a line drive to the right field corner that allowed Khawam to score from first.

Southridge looked to start a rally when the next batter Austin Peterson drew a walk to put runners on first and second with one out. But the Cougars had other plans when Stevens forced Jerrick Campbell to ground into the 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Killian wasn’t finished yet. In the top of seventh inning the Cougars added some insurance runs for Stevens.

With one out and a runner on first, Herrera called junior William Ortiz to pinch-hit for Zach Polito, and the moved paid off. Ortiz hit a line drive to the gap in right-center field allowing Ryan Sabbag to score as Ortiz raced to third. The relay throw bounced into foul territory, allowing Ortiz to race home to put the Cougars up 5-1.

“To have a bat like Will Ortiz there at the end, to be able to get a big hit like that, he’s a tremendous weapon for me,” Herrera said.

That would be the end of the game for Dayron Moreno who pitched six and two-thirds innings allowing five runs, five hits, and earning three strikeouts in the game.

Stevens struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh looking to retire the side. But Miguel Caba singled before Stevens forced a ground out to end the game.

A disappointed Doskow says this game was a microcosm of his team’s season.

“[We] had a tough time making a routine play and not enough consistency,” he said. “We win some, we lose some. We weren’t consistent enough to win five, six, seven in a row, and that’s what happened in today’s ball game.”

On the other side, the Cougars look forward for a chance to repeat as district champions.

“The goal obviously is to get to the end, but you can’t get to the end without being in this position,” Herrera said. “We’ve got our hands full here with a very good South Dade team that’s extremely well coached by Coach [Fred] Burnside, but we’re going to give it our best shot and try to win another district championship.”

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