Miami High Ready To Make A Playoff Push In 2014
Manager Frank Suarez observes the action during spring practice at Curtis Park.
It’s a new season and an entirely new era at Miami Senior High.
The Stingarees are coming off a tough 2013 campaign, a season to forget in which they finished 2-20 and missed the district playoffs. A year later the team is ready to move on and do exactly that, wiping the slate clean and welcoming a new group of players who are eager and hungry to contend again.
It’s a whole new group this year, a bunch that knows the past is well behind them now.
“Last year was a disaster of a year; it was the worst we ever had,” said Miami Manager Frank Suarez. “We didn’t have that chemistry as a group that we have this year.”
The Stingarees are strong in all the right places this season, and everyone is united in their resolve to make it back to the district playoffs. There is a lot of energy whenever the players are together, and chemistry is now their greatest strength and asset.
“Even though this is my first year here, we all just get along really good,” said senior Paul Gomez. “We’re always trying to hang out as a group, after practices or if we have time during lunch. I think we have pretty good chemistry among us.”
Gomez is one of several players who have joined the team this season after previously playing at Mater East Academy last year. With Mater East no longer fielding a baseball team following the opening of the SLAM charter school, these players came aboard to the school that is in their home district. It is a great advantage for the Stingarees to welcome in a crop of talented players who rightfully belong right where they now are.
Joining Gomez on the team are Edgar Aparicio, Ray Blanco, Andy Escono, Luis Diaz and John Venegas. The school also welcomes in former Coral Gables first baseman Argenis Hernandez and former Mater Academy Lion Gustavo Miranda. Besides bringing talent and energy to the program, these new players also bring character and enthusiasm to their new team.
The Stingarees hustle on every play in practice, and that is the goal for every moment of every game as well.
“It’s a big change coming from a little charter school of 600 kids to a school with 3,000 kids,” Gomez said. “It’s a culture shock. The first day I got lost. But it’s a good experience, a real high school experience. Being with the team makes it easier and more fun.”
The pieces of the puzzle have all shifted perfectly into place. The players understand the work they need to do in order to compete with their peers, but they also know that they are an improved squad that will surprise any team that takes them lightly based on what they may have seen in the past.
Defense is the strength of the club, particularly up the middle. Miranda is rounding into a solid second baseman, and is continuing to get stronger and faster. Returning centerfielder Dayron Mallea anchors the outfield group, covering a ton of ground and working well with other returning veterans such as Christian Hernandez, leadoff hitter Abraham Rivas and Christian Torres. With Argenis Hernandez holding down first base and Gomez settling in at third, the team is also strong at the corners.
The key to any defensive unit always starts at the dish, and this season the team has their first proven catcher in years in Victor Herrera. Herrera attends Wolfson and lives in their school district, and he has been a valuable addition to the team.
“When you have someone who takes charge of the game, it is great,” said Suarez. “It seems like he is going to do a great job there for us.”
Herrera admits he enjoys feeling like he is in a position to be a leader on his team. He likes focusing to bring everyone together to work as one unit, and he does an excellent job of working with his pitching staff. He likes what his defense brings in front of him, and he is proud for the opportunity to lead the way.
“We hustle and we like to hustle. We like playing hard, and that is all we have to do,” Herrera said. “We’ve got to play hard, we’ve got to hustle and we’ve got to get to all those 50-50 balls that are hit. We’ve got to take advantage of mistakes and just execute.”
Like the rest of the club, Herrera understands that most of their opponents are going to take them lightly when they face them. Recognition is something they must earn, and he is proud to be one of the guys to set that example by pushing himself every day on every play in every way.
“People looking down on us, it just gives us motivation to work harder,” Herrera said. “When we go far, that’s just going to pay tribute to our hard work. We’re competitors; that’s who we are.”
The team is not bothered by being an underdog, and they understand that there are a lot of very talented baseball teams in the area. It is motivation for them to prove their right to be mentioned in the same conversation as the more recognized programs, and the team uses this as the right fuel mixture to make them push themselves harder then ever before.
There are plenty of leaders on the field, and the players all have faith and trust in their leader Suarez. The skipper has been at the helm for 12 years, and has been with the program for the last 16 seasons. Overall Suarez has 40 years of coaching experience, and also spent ten years as a college umpire. The players recognize that he knows the game and he has earned everyone’s trust that they are being guided in the right direction.
The Stingarees have a strong pitching staff in 2014.
“Coach Suarez has done a good job of training us, and he puts a lot of emphasis on trying to improve from last year,” said Gomez. “We are trying to make a competing team in districts again. I like to lead by example, doing good in school and doing what I have to do on the field, just knowing how to act and working hard to give 100% for my team.”
The area where the team has seen the greatest improvement is on the mound. Returning veterans Evan Delgado and Jose Veras are now aided by the addition of Aparicio, Escono and Blanco. Suarez knows pitching is key in high school baseball, and this staff gives them an excellent chance to compete.
“We have three veterans in Andy, Edgar and Evan. They are not power pitchers but they throw strikes,” Suarez said. “If you throw strikes in high school then you have a chance. The guys we have will really help us. It is not much depth, but we have guys who can do the job.”
Escono was 3-2 with a 2.53 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 44 innings pitched last year for the Scorpions, where he led the team in innings pitched and proved he is a capable workhorse the likes of which his new team can rely upon.
The goal for the season is to make the district playoffs that eluded them last season. Of the five teams in their district, only Hialeah posted a winning record last year. Nothing is automatic, but the Stingarees feel confident that they can compete with the Thoroughbreds, Hialeah Gardens, Dr. Krop and Miami Beach.
“We have a five-team district, so only one team misses out. We have a good chance,” said Suarez. “We only won two games last year, but we could have won seven or eight that were close. But really we couldn’t compete with those teams. This year I think we can.”
There is perhaps no greater advantage a team can have other than the drive and motivation to achieve their goal. Players understand that the opportunities exist for them this season, and it is their job to handle their workload to make sure they are prepared to meet such challenges. Together they are a strong and united roster ready to give this season everything that they have.
“Fundamentals are the most important things,” said Suarez. “We need to be fundamentally sound, and if we are not we are not going to do the job. We have to execute and play the game right. With this discipline will come the fundamentals.”
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