Infante’s Hot Bat Propels Westminster Christian

For most high school baseball players, going a perfect 4-for-4 with three runs batted in and a triple would be the achievement of a lifetime. For Westminster Christian’s Julian Infante, it is just another day. The junior, who leads the county in home runs and RBIs, was the driving force Tuesday, powering Westminster to a 9-3 win over Keys Gate Charter.

“It’s always big when one of your captains gets a big hit for you and takes the win away from the opposite team, that’s what separated us today.” Westminster Manager Emil Castellanos said.

The Warriors (10-2-1), for more than two decades considered a powerhouse in South Florida, found in the inexperienced Keys Gate a bone extremely tough to chew. The Knights are a well coached club that has less than a couple of years of baseball play.

“We only have three seniors, so the future looks bright. We have a lot of good freshman and sophomores. Next year is looking really good for us.” Keys Gate Manager Kevin Mirabal said.

It was in fact the visiting Knights (2-7-1-) who were the first ones to score in the game. The lead-off hitter Alan Quezada opened things up in the first inning with a base hit to center.  The next batter Emmanuel Padron walked on four pitches, and both runners scored on a defensive error that followed.

The Westminster answer came in the bottom of the first. John Gonzales was walked to start the frame and that was followed by a hit to right field by Dakota Robbins. Next to bat was Infante, who drove in the first run for his team on a line drive to the left side of the infield. After a force out and a strike out, it seemed as if Keys Gate would leave the inning still ahead, but with two runners on Adrian Mayans hit a bullet to the gap for a double to put his team ahead.

The Warrior starter Isiah Musa was wildly dominant, he struck out eight batters in only four innings of work. His fastball command was on point, while his ball came into the hitter with lots of movement. He only gave up one more run in the game after the first.

In the top of the third the shortstop Padron welcomed Musa with a solid hit to center, then immediately stole second base and later scored on a wild pitch. Padron finished the game 2-for-3 and scored two of the three runs of his team.

“I had to do the most I could for the team. Sometimes you have to play hard to win the game,” Padron said.

Musa, who settled in after the first, was a welcome addition to the pitching rotation of Westminster. He used to be a reliever and is now adjusting his pace to this new role. He acknowledged the fact that he had to do his own job and let his team play take its course. In addition, he said that after the error on defense and the run scored in the third he felt as if it was his duty to throw lots of strikes to get easy outs.

“He got electrifying stuff. He is a guy that throws really hard but he had to find his groove. He is coming through, he just has to get more mound exposure.” Castellanos said.

The Warriors offense looked tamed by the Knights starter Emmanuel Perez for a while, but just like great teams do, they woke up in the fourth, scoring three runs on two hits, a couple of stolen bases and a sacrifice bunt. The dagger was placed by the team captain Infante in the sixth.  The inning was opened by consecutive walks to the first two men in the order. With both on, the strong third baseman hit a deep ball to the left-field gap that dropped for a triple. Later, he would score on a wild pitch.

His play on the field was dominant. He gave the impression of a man going against boys with the bat. On the other hand, he appeared to be a humble player, giving lots of compliments to his team, and acknowledging his flaws and how far he was of his ceiling.

“I’m still not dominant; I still have a lot of strides I have to go through. I have to stay humble. I haven’t done anything until we win a state championship,” Infante said. “I want to aim as high as I can, but my main goal is about winning, I can’t worry about stats.”

For Keys Gate, the game served as a learning lesson for the young team.

“We came out here against a great ball club and we played good baseball. We made a couple of mistake on pitching and defense, but I feel good about it,” Mirabal said. “This is the best hitting team in South Florida and there was no room for error there.”

The other side of the field was as confident as they could be. Castellanos had some bold predictions and claimed his team to be the best one in the county and a serious contender for states. Castellano even went as far as calling out #1 South Dade.

“If they give us a game, we will show who the real number one is.” Castellanos said.

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