Southridge Bets On Success In 2014
Manager Ed Doskow addresses his team during practice at Southridge High in South Miami Heights.
Manager Ed Doskow never hesitates to talk about the famous Southridge team from 12 years ago. In 2002, when Doskow served as an assistant under current South Dade Manager Fred Burnside, the Spartans fielded one of the top ranked teams in the nation. That team was littered with talent, headlined by future major league shortstop Robert Andino. They eventually finished 34-2 and lost to defending champion Hialeah High in the 6A state title game. He brings it up because its one of the last times that a large school from Miami brought home a state championship.
As the talent pool has spread across the county with increasing number of schools, no large classification (6A-8A) team from Miami-Dade county has won a state title since Columbus in 2003. Doskow wants his Southridge team to be the one that breaks the drought and brings the trophy home to South Miami Heights.
“Expectations are super high at the Ridge, like they are every year,” Doskow said. “This team seems determined to outwork the previous teams and hopefully we’ll be the last team standing trying to win a state championship.”
Doskow said his players have worked tirelessly in the offseason to reach their goals, but to earn a chance at a state title a little bit of luck is needed.
“We tell our kids that hard work guarantees you nothing, but if you don’t work hard, you don’t have a shot,” said Doskow.”At the end of the day its got to take everything to fall in place; you have to be very lucky to win a state title.”
The Spartans lost only two starters from last season off of a team that finished 11-10 competing in a stacked district before falling 3-2 to eventual 8A-16 champion Killian in the playoffs. The manager says a lack of fundamentals cost his team in critical moments of games, a detail the coaching staff has emphasized in practice.
“You look back at our losses, if we would have been fundamentally sound we could have won each of those games,” said Doskow. “We’ve emphasized just catching the ball and simple fundamentals. Don’t worry about the great play; make the routine play and prevent the other team from maximizing their opportunities.”
A few plays could prove to be the difference for a team like Southridge. The Spartans were 5-5 in games decided by two runs or less last season.
Catcher Austin Peterson stands at the plate during practice at Southridge High in South Miami Heights.
“We had a great pitching staff but we couldn’t score the runners,” said junior Austin Peterson. “We lost too many one-run games that we should have won.”
In 2014, the pitching staff will have to earn their keep after losing three seniors from the rotation. Osvaldo Garcia, Dayron Moreno, and Miguel Caba are gone and Doskow has a few new faces ready to fill the void.
Senior right-handed pitcher Isaac DaSilva (4-2, 24.1 IP, 25 K), and lefties Austin Dreher and Eric Lopez will make up the Spartans starting rotation in the spring. DaSilva is the only one of the three with varsity experience and will have to set the tone for the newcomers.
“He’s dominating on the mound, he had a great season last year and he was very tough against his opponents,” Doskow said of DaSilva.
Since each team in the district is capable of hitting the ball, Doskow is looking for consistency from his rotation this season. The staff has also designated senior Jerrick Campbell as the closer.
“We don’t have a flamethrower like in years past, but we have a bunch of guys throwing in the mid 80s that can locate and have very good off-speed pitches,” he said.
At the plate, the team is excited about a trio of sluggers that create nightmares for opposing pitchers. 6-foot-3 junior outfielder Josten Heron (12 RBI), All-8A-16 junior outfielder Diandre Amion (.319 BA 15 R, 13 RBI), and junior shortstop Arlain Sesin (.351 BA) will carry the brunt of the Southridge offense this season.
“Those three guys, the way they go, the way our team is going to roll. If they’re hot then we’re going to be hot, they’re playmakers and can do everything in a baseball game,” said Doskow.
In addition, senior first baseman Octavio Mirabal (.321 BA, 14 RBI, 10 SB), senior second baseman J.P. Castaneda (King University signee), and Peterson (.318 BA, 10 RBI) add three more potent bats to the Spartans attack.
“With all the guys we have coming back, we have a good mindset of what we need to do, and what we need to take care of this year,” Josten Heron said.
The first order of business is facing the giants in their own backyard. Their 8A-16 slate includes rivals Coral Reef, Killian, Palmetto, South Dade, and last season’s 8A-15 champion Miami Sunset. These schools know each other well and the standings are always tight. The top six teams in the district finished within two games of each other last spring.
Southridge players work on technique during batting practice at Robbie Smith Field on the campus of Southridge High.
“The team that gets out of our district has been battle tested,” Doskow stated. “Every school in our district has an arm that can shut anybody down and every one of those games I expect to be a 2-1, 1-0, 3-2 ball game because there’s no easy games, no easy teams in our district.”
Southridge baseball evokes a deep sense of pride in the community and many parents and former players still pack the stands at Robbie Smith Field to support the program. Each player understands the tradition and history of the program before they ever take the field.
“The players know that when put on a shirt that says ‘Ridge baseball’ they represent all of those former players that have played before them,” Doskow stated. “They have to know about guys that are in the major leagues like Andino, Fredi Gonzalez, Shannon Stewart, and the hundreds of guys that went on to play college ball from Southridge.”
If the cards fall in place Doskow hopes this team can celebrate on the field at jetBlue Park in Fort Myers.
“Since 1985 there’s only been four large schools to win a state title in Miami-Dade County,” Doskow Lamented. “Hopefully that lightning will strike in the right place, that little pebble will be on the field where it needs to be, and the ball will bounce our way.”
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