Garcia Guides Westwood Christian Past Miami Brito

Luis Padron knew his team would follow his lead.

The Westwood Christian manager led a spirited effort to ignite the Warriors for a 6-2 victory over Miami Brito in a Class 2A regional semifinal played at Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens.

“I’ve been sick for four days, and I’ve got kidney problems,” Padron admitted. “Last week when they beat us in the district championship we left 10 runners on. I had like seven parents call me and tell me they need your intensity. It’s not because of me, but when this team goes and they see me fired up they just work.”

Such was the case on Tuesday, as Padron was animated and passionate from the moment the teams broke from the pregame meeting at home.

Tuesday’s semifinal contest felt more like the state championship, as Miami Brito and Westwood Christian had both earned that recognition with the season each had in competing and beating teams up to the highest classifications.

The Panthers (20-5) were coming off a season in which they were upset in the district playoffs, and the team returned this year with determined purpose.

“A lot of the kids came back from last year, so they knew what it was like to underachieve,” Brito Manager Laz Fundora said. “They had the hunger this year and all our seniors stepped up, every single one of them. We’ve got a great ball club, but that’s the game of baseball. Plenty of years we were on the other side of this equation. It just so happened that this time it wasn’t our day.”

In surviving to advance, the Warriors (14-7-1) now find themselves a win away from a return trip to states following last year’s inaugural state-berth for the program. Westwood will face Zion Lutheran in the Class 2A finals on Friday.

But there would be no Friday if not for Danny Garcia.

The senior left-hander pitched just a few throws short of going the distance, earning the win in a game that meant more to him than no other.

“It was the most intense game I’ve had my whole baseball career,” Garcia said. “I don’t know how to explain it. From our bat swinging to our intensity in the dugout, we had intensity one through seven and it never failed. We came out victorious.”

Perhaps no one was more intense than Garcia. The senior hurled a heroic effort, scattering seven hits and allowing two unearned runs while striking out 10 batters without walking any.

Of his 98 total pitches thrown, 73 found the strike zone as he worked ahead in the count on nearly every hitter.

“Padron always says a first-pitch strike is the best strike,” said Garcia. “Throughout the whole season I was up in my pitch count, but late in the year I said I need to limit my pitches. So today when I saw I was at 46 pitches in the fourth inning, I was like let me finish this.”

As well as Garcia pitched, he also got a big boost in coming onto the mound staked with a 3-0 lead after the Warriors opened the game with a bang in the top of the first inning.

Robert Hernandez drew a leadoff walk, and then stole second to immediately get into scoring position. Luis Diaz scorched a shot to the right field corner to send Hernandez in and start the scoring.

Anthony Penas then jumped on a pitch and drilled it deep to center field for an RBI double to bring Diaz home. When Claudio Rubiera reached on an error, Penas also came across the plate for what would stand as the winning run.

The Warriors continued to add to the lead with runs in each the third, fourth and fifth innings.

The Panthers struggled on the mound, until Brito turned to its ace in Richie Sotolongo. The senior right-hander came on in the fifth inning to go the rest of the way in scoreless relief with a pair of strikeouts.

“I never touch on individuals, I always talk about the ball club. But I tip my hat to Richie Sotolongo, he came in relief and was lights out,” said Fundora. “I feel for him because he was part of the 2011 team that was one pitch, one inning away from winning a state championship. The thing on his mind ever since that day was the slider he hung and he got hit. After that and ever since, he’s been the guy here. He did an excellent job, and he did that all year. What a warrior.”

Westwood also got strong relief pitching, as Jason Gutierrez came on to rescue the day after Onelio Perdomo and Henry Blanco both singled and Josuan Suarez reached on an error to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh.

“They battled back in that last inning, and they’re a good quality team. But thank God for our closer, Jason Gutierrez. He finished it for me,” said Garcia.

Both Padron and Garcia admitted they were expecting what came next, as they were well aware of the curveball Gutierrez could throw.

“Jason was ready, and I knew that double play was coming. I knew that curveball was going to be his pitch,” said Padron.

The right-hander induced a liner to third base, where Penas scooped it into his glove, stepped on third and then fired across to first base to record the game-ending double play.

But after holding them at bay the entire game, Brito had proven just how dangerous it is by putting the tying run at the plate with a bat in his hands.

“I’m a humble guy and I don’t like early celebrations,” said Padron. “I always tell them celebrations are at the end of the game. This is a team that battles, so we had to keep the intensity until the end. I told them I’m not going to take a minute off, and I want you to do the same thing.”

Brito started to battle back in the fifth, as Andy Herrera reached on an error and then came all the way around to score on an RBI double from Perdomo.

In the sixth Savian Fernandez drove in Blanco to help further chip away at the deficit. Fernandez finished 2-for-3, and Blanco was 2-for-4.

But each time Garcia buckled down to limit the damage and keep the Panthers at bay.

“Danny is a special player, and he just does his job all the time. God willing, we may get to states,” said Padron. “We have a tough opponent in Zion; we faced them at the beginning of the year and we had a great game. I told the guys don’t celebrate and take too many pictures, because it’s not over yet.”

Leave a comment using your facebook account!