South Dade Looks To Break A Trend in 2014

Playing in the bottom half of Miami-Dade county, the Homestead-based South Dade Buccaneers have established themselves as one of the top programs in South Florida. Long-serving Manager Fred Burnside has coached Miami-area baseball for over 40 years, spending the last six years establishing the Bucs as a consistent playoff contender.

“The last five years we’ve been in the district finals for four of them. We’ve got too many runner-ups though; we want to win it,” Burnside said.

In 2012, South Dade finished 15-7 but stumbled to Killian in the district semifinals. In 2013, South Dade went 14-11 and fell again to Killian in the 8A-16 title game, before losing to Miami Sunset in the regional quarterfinals.

With only six seniors gone from last season’s roster the Buccaneers believe that they have the experience and talent needed to get over the hump, capture a district crown and make a long playoff run. Burnside has offered his fair share of season predictions over the years and he feels this team has the potential to perform even better than last season.

“I think we’ve got a great shot if we can stay healthy,” Burnside said. “We need a couple of juniors to step up, especially on the mound. If we get a little more discipline at the plate I think this club can go a long way.”

However, he challenged his team to become better students of the game if they are serious about winning.

“I’m not real pleased with our work ethic, we’re just not there yet,” Burnside admitted. “I think too many guys, and not just here, believe that their going to get fired up and do it on game day and I’m preaching that its preparation that gets you there.”

South Dade’s championship hopes will rest on the shoulders of each hurler on the pitching staff in 2014. The Bucs had one of the best pitching staffs in 8A-16 last year, recording five shutouts on the year. The team will try to replicate that success without HSBN Miami-Dade Pitcher of the Year Adam Roush (7-2, 55 IP, 1.02 ERA, 82 K) and Ruben Vega (2-2, 23.2 IP, 1.77 ERA, 23 K).

“We’re counting on our defense, in high school 90 percent of the game is on who’s standing on that little piece of rubber out there,” said Burnside, referring to the pitcher’s mound.

The Bucs will reload with FIU signee Erik Manoah (4-3, 51 IP, 1.65 ERA, 68 K) and senior Luis Borges (20.2 IP, 1.35 ERA, 12 K) to stifle hitters at the plate. In addition, junior Jose Gorodo will see extended action on the mound and standout sophomore Danny Vaughan will take over the closer duties while splitting time at third base.

“We’re South Dade, so we’re going to come out on top as long as we put our heads to it,” said Manoah. “We should be in that district championship game again, hopefully this time we win it.”

Manoah is also expected to lead by example in the batting order. The senior hit .368 with 10 RBI and eight doubles at the plate last spring. The Bucs will need some hitters to emerge after losing three of their top four RBI leaders in the offseason. Senior left fielder Austin Allende will hit from the leadoff spot and try to use his speed to put pressure on opposing teams defenses.

As a true freshman, Vaughan was thrown into the fire and produced big time results hitting .304 with eight RBI in limited action last year.

“My approach this season will be to bring runners home and try to hit balls away and not to worry about pulling them,” Vaughan said.

Burnside feels that all of his hitters need to adjust their approach at the plate and work deep into the pitch count. He wants them to do a better job with the short game, and have a little more discipline.

In 8A-16, no plate appearance can be taken for granted since each team has pitchers capable of neutralizing a batting order for seven innings. The league includes familiar foes Southridge, Palmetto, Varela, Coral Reef, back-to-back champion Killian, and 8A-15 winner Miami Sunset.

These teams know each other all too well, which has led to high-stakes, low scoring games. In fact, seven out of the ten South Dade district games were decided by two runs or less in 2013. With over four decades coaching baseball in the area, Burnside has ties to each one of those teams.

“[Spartans Manager Ed] Doskow, I hired him as my pitching coach at Southridge, Mandy Pelaez at Sunset worked my camps for many years when he was in college, [Palmetto Manager] Danny Smith played for me at Southridge, and [Varela Manager] John Barbato I remember him as a player at Columbus,” Burnside recalled.

Everyone gets along well off the field, but relationships get thrown out the window when these programs meet on it.

“As they say, if you’re in the backyard playing with your son you want to beat him just as bad as anybody else,” Burnside said.

There is an added buzz unique to South Dade’s campus since the football team captured the 8A state title last fall. Its their first state championship in school history and the team is hoping some of that magic carries over to the baseball diamond.

“The football story is phenomenal, they went from so-so to the very best, hats off to the coaches!” Burnside said. “I had a team that was 34-1 and couldn’t do it so I have an idea its not just getting there you have to get it done.”

Burnside is referring to the nationally ranked 2002 Southridge team that went 34-1 before losing to defending champion Hialeah High in the 6A state title game. Burnside stresses the importance of hard work to his team if they hope to end their string of runner-up finishes.

There’s no magic pill, no magic drill, you have to out work the next guy,” Burnside stated. “And when you’re sitting still there’s a guy peddling like hell to get past you.”

The message seems to ring loud and clear to his players.

“That loss to Killian last year made us all stronger, it made us all want it that much more,” Vaughn said. “So it’ll be hard to beat us because of our motivation toward that district championship.”

Leave a comment using your facebook account!