Miami Springs Avenges Early District Loss To Goleman
Carlos Santana had six huge RBIs for his team.
The 6A-15 race just came to a boiling point. The temperature has risen after Goleman was defeated 13-3 by Miami Springs. The Hawks owners now of a 4-1 district record, control their own destiny and faced an unbeaten Gators squad that after the Wednesday loss find themselves still in first place of the district with a 5-1 record.
This was the second time these two teams faced in the season. Last time, Goleman (9-3) was victorious 8-6. Miami Springs (8-6) acknowledged the importance of the ballgame and came ready to turn the table against the Gators, one of the top ranked clubs in the county.
Just like last time, the Hawks gave the ball to the talented sophomore David Cervantes. Unlike the first meeting, Cervantes had his good stuff on Wednesday. His fastball kept working the corners, he also used a nasty breaking-ball that dropped and kept hitters off-balance. Cervantes would finished the complete game with two walks, while only giving up three runs.
The game looked one-sided in the beginning, after the starting pitching for the Gators couldn’t keep the ball in the zone. In the first inning, Golden Hawks lead-off hitter Yoandry Perez walked and scored on a sacrifice fly by Austin Voeller. Two more Hawks hitters were put on base, and following a pitching change that appeared to calm the offense, with two outs, and behind in the count, Carlos Santana, hit a deep double that drove in two more runs.
The next inning Perez would lead-off again reaching first base for a second time, and scored on a double by the cleanup-hitter Juan Kirk. Perez reached base four times and scored three runs on the afternoon.
Yoandry Perez was always on the bases, scoring three times.
“Coming out today I was feeling good. I was just waiting and sitting on the pitches but I was walked again a couple of times,” Yoandry Perez said. “I guess I wasn’t lucky to get hits this time, I just got on base to score runs and help my team win.”
Being down by four runs, Goleman, a club that has hot bats for much of the season, attacked Cervantes in the third, scoring three runs. They mixed timely hitting with two walks and three stolen bases.
Daniel Guerrero was a focal point for Goleman, going 2-for-3.
Cervantes, who leads the district in strikeouts, had none on this day, but used his defense to hold the strong Gators offense in check.
“The strike out will come by itself, I just take care of throwing strikes,” Cervantez said. “There is no pressure, I try to do my job and my defense does theirs and that’s how we work as a team to have success.”
After the three-run third for the Gators, Hawks Manager Willie Vazquez settled his guys down with a team meeting. The pep talk worked marvelously.
In their half of the fourth, Miami Springs worked three walks and a hit-by-pitch that scored a run. With the bases loaded, Santana came to the batter box and drove in two more runs with a base hit to center. He finished the night 3-for-4 with six runs batted in.
“I was patient just waiting for the pitch that I could drive,” Santana said. “It feels good being clutch and even more seeing my team win.”
The next inning, a couple of hits by Perez and Julio Machado put Voeller in position to drive in some runs. The power-hitting first baseman, who leads the district in home runs, had been kept in check by the Gators most of the day. This time, an inside pitch could not fool him, as Voeller hit his third homer of the season.
David Cervantes is and showed to be the ace of his pitching staff.
“The first three at-bats I was struggling, I was ahead of the ball,” Voeller said. “The last at-bat I stayed back, I hit the ball and luckily it went over the fences.”
After the home run, three walks and two more hits put the game out of reach. Anthony Diaz was then hit by a pitch, ending the district game at 13-3.
Vazquez said that his team had played as complete game as he had seen all season, and this was one decisive victory for his squad.
“This group of players are putting us back in the race where they can be in first place,” Vazquez said. “We control our own destiny, and it’s in our hands. I’ll go as far as they go.”
His counterpart Jose Lopez wasn’t happy about the way his pitching performed. His team may have woke up on the day as the clear leader of the district but now the Gators found themselves in the middle of a district race.
“Our pitching wasn’t on today,” said Lopez. “Our pitchers had a rough time throwing strikes, we hit a few batters and they took advantage of it. Their timely hitting was there and they were better than us today.”
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