Ferguson Reloads With Fresh Talent In 2014

Entering its 11th year of existence Ferguson High has earned a reputation as one of the top programs in Miami-Dade County. Well regarded Falcons Manager Jose Novas has played a vital role in the team’s growth, guiding the program to two district titles in the past four years.

Ferguson has played exceptional baseball under Novas, with a combination of talent and experience throughout the roster each season. As the Falcons begin play in 2014 the talent pool is deep once again, but playing experience is lacking after the team graduated a large senior class.

“Our team is relatively young considering my first six years here,” said Novas. “I’m eager to do a lot more teaching this year just because they are relatively inexperienced to play at this level. We graduated 11 seniors from last year and this year we’ll only have two returning starters.”

The Falcons finished 15-9 and 9-3 in 15-8A play, before falling to district champion Miami Sunset in the semifinals. With a unknown group of players coming in the team feels that they can surprise people around the county if they play to their potential.

“A lot of teams don’t expect us to be good this year,” senior Kevin Torres said. “If we catch them off guard we can make it to the district championship and from there we can go to regionals.”

Located on the outskirts of the Everglades, Ferguson High is one of the largest high schools in Florida with well over 4,000 students. The increased enrollment translates to a larger talent base for Novas’ squad. The departed seniors have given the young guys an opportunity to make an early impact on the field.

“Its a good freshman class that came in, and some of those guys are going to make an impact on varsity right away which is rare for us,” said Novas, who enters into his 27th year of coaching in Miami-Dade County.

With a young roster and a home field that is considered a pitcher’s park because of the swirling winds, the Falcons will bring a small ball approach into the 2014 campaign.

“That’s what we’re stressing with this group is pitching, defense, and small ball,” Novas said.

On the mound Ferguson reloads with a deep stable of pitchers eager to prove they can compete with the best teams in the area. Novas says his new starters have to prove they can compete against the best teams in the area.

“We have four arms but only one of them had a start last year, so we are relatively inexperienced,” Novas said.

Senior pitcher Alan Saumell (2-0, 18 IP, 2.33 ERA, 24 K) will anchor the staff this season. The right-hander was the team’s top reliever out of the bullpen last season and expects to have an increased role in the rotation in the spring.

In addition, senior Joseph Campo and junior Sergio Ramos are two pitchers Novas expects to throw plenty of innings this season when they’re not playing in the field. Ramos was the team’s closer and finished 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA in just over 13 innings pitched in 2013.

The magic number for Ferguson was four in 2013. The team was just 3-9 when allowing opponents to score four runs or more. Since the district is loaded with teams capable of winning a league championship, the Falcons will have to be sharp on the mound to avoid falling behind in the playoff race.

“The district definitely presents a challenge, on any given day anybody can beat one another,” Novas acknowledged. “Columbus has always been strong, Braddock is going to be improved, andral Gables is coming in is a front runner right now. South Miami and Coral Park are coming on with good young coaches. Southwest always presents a problem, Josy Torres always does a great job over there.”

On offense, Ferguson will try to manufacture runs using the small ball approach going into games. The Falcons home field has smaller dimensions but fly balls don’t carry as far because of the wind. The small ball approach requires the team playing station to station baseball: moving runners over on bunts, stolen bases, and base hits instead of the home run.

“Even though we have a smaller yard, the wind is always blowing in and its really a pitcher’s yard so we focus on playing the small game: running the bases well, bunting, and hit and run,” said Novas.

Falcons hitters realize they won’t hit for power at home so they have to play around that.

“Offensively we just need to do the little things,” said sophomore shortstop Javier Valdes. “If we can get a bunt when a runner’s on first, hit behind the runner to move him over, and things like that we’ll be fine to compete in this district.”

As a freshman starting at second base, Valdes hit .324 with 18 RBI, 9 doubles, and led the team with .521 slugging percentage.

Valdes and Torres will look to replace the production of HSBN All-County selection Anthony Tucker (.455 BA, 20 R, .520 OBP) who graduated last summer.

On defense the Falcons can’t afford to make many errors against powerhouse teams like Columbus and Coral Gables. In high school baseball one error can lead to a huge momentum shift in big games.

“I think we’re going to have to play fundamental defense without making many mistakes,” Torres said.

The Falcons have managed to earn one of the top two district seeds in each season Novas has been at the helm. The manager believes the teams who catch fire later on in the season are the most successful.

“Hopefully we will better in April than we are in February,” he said. “Towards the end of the season, I hope we’ll string together a couple of wins. I anticipate us being pretty tough to beat towards the end of the season.”

Even with the inexperienced roster, Ferguson is confident it can still play among the best teams Miami-Dade county has to offer.

“Its going to be a challenge there’s quality teams and quality coaches in the district,” Novas said. “If you go in with less talent, you’re going to get beat on a regular basis. Not to say talent is solely what wins ballgames but sometimes you can be overmatched. I haven’t had that feeling in a longtime and I don’t think I’ll have it this year.”

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