Killian Gears Up For A Season-Long Dogfight

With a long history of success in Miami-Dade County, the Killian Cougars baseball team is always in the conversation as one of the better teams in the area.

The last few seasons have been no different, with the Cougars winning back-to-back district championships in Class 8A under Manager Angel Herrera.

This season, Killian aims for the three-peat despite a relentless district. With a bolstered pitching staff and fundamentally sound lineup, the Cougars like their chances to make a deep playoff run in 2014.

“The expectation at Killian is the same every year and its to win as many games as we can, but to peak at the right time, at the end,” said Herrera, who has a career record of 127-67-2 as the Cougars head man. “We have some challenges to figure out how to overcome, but every team does.”

Killian graduated eight seniors from a team that finished 18-9-1, but one player stands out above the rest. The Cougars will enter the season without one of the best players in the county last season, the HSBN District 8A-16 Player of the Year, Mike Perez (.434 B.A., 22 RBI, 4-0, 18.2 IP, 1.50 ERA, 22 K) who graduated this year.

“We lost arguably someone that could have been player of the year in Miami-Dade County in Mike Perez, so that’s a big hole,” Herrera admitted. “We’re hoping that this group can do the job and fill the void collectively as a team.”

The Cougars hit for a .260 average collectively last season and Herrera will look to a number of players to take the next step at the plate this season.

Senior catcher and three-year starter Spencer Levine recently signed to play baseball for FIU, and is poised to have a big year at the plate.

“Spencer Levine is capable of putting up some gaudy numbers offensively, so hopefully this is the year he breaks out,” Herrera said.

Junior second baseman Eddy Demurias and senior outfielder Ryan Sabbag are also expected to be spark plugs on offense this season.

“I spent a lot of hours in the weight room, taking ground balls, and getting my swings off in the cages to be as sharp as possible for the season,” said Demurias.

Look for talented freshman Freddy Zamora and Eddy Arteaga to play substantial roles in the lineup this season.

But in a district loaded with talented pitching, the Cougars don’t expect to light up the scoreboard every night.

“Collectively these guys are very good at doing the little things, so we’re looking to manufacture runs, we’re looking to play fundamental baseball and we’re hoping to just have productive at-bats collectively,” Herrera said.

The unquestioned strength of this team is the pitching staff, where the team is loaded with talented arms that have pitched in a number of big games already.

The ace of the staff, junior Keith Stevens (5-1, 67.1 IP, 63 K, 1.77 ERA) believes the experience of the staff will pay huge dividends during those important district games.

“It’s crucial because every game is a dogfight and the pitching staff keeps us in it,” said Stevens.

Dubbing themselves the “Four Horseman”, the four junior pitchers include Stevens, lefty Ryan Granda, righty Frank Follaco, and righty Vladimir Nunez.

With so many arms at his disposal, Herrera admits it can be tough getting everybody innings on the mound.

“Its hard in managing the innings and making sure everyone gets the work they need but this is a very cohesive group, very unselfish group that functions well together,” he said. “And we had a couple guys we were gonna count on last year that were out with injury, and they’re back in Frank Follaco and Mikhail Cunill (Swarthmore College signee). So with the core pitchers back and the return of two guys it makes pitching our strength, undoubtedly.”

All of the pitchers will get their chance in Killian’s gauntlet of a district. The Cougars remained in District 8A-16, however, the 2013 District 8A-15 champion Miami Sunset was added this season. The Knights ended the Cougars season in the regional semifinals before falling to American High in the final. Sunset joins an already stacked field with Palmetto, Southridge, Coral Reef, Varela, and South Dade.

“You’ve got programs in our district that are extremely well-coached, extremely talented, that are very capable of winning a ton of games,” Herrera said.

To keep his players focused in practice, he simply tells his players to look at the district schedule.

“The easy way to motivate them to continue to work is reminding them of the district they play in,” said Herrera. “Our opponents in our district motivate us to continue to work because we know what they can do and we know how good they are.”

Knowing the challenge ahead, the Cougars realize they can’t assume a playoff spot is guaranteed. With experience on their side, they feel prepared to weather the storm of another challenging season.

“I always say that the baseball season is a story in itself,” said Herrera. “You have your highs, you have your lows, you have your good moments and your adversity. The key is to try to grow, and learn together from the beginning and that way at the end, hopefully you’re functioning on all cylinders.”

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