Never Weather-Beaten Sail More Willing Bent To Doral

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William Shakespeare once said that people usually are the happiest at home.

On Wednesday afternoon the Doral Academy Firebirds realized just how true that is. Playing just their second game on their new on-campus field, Doral stormed to a 16-3 victory over Miami Christian to win for the first time in front of their home fans.

The Firebirds (4-3) dropped their home opener to LaSalle on Friday, but they took no chance of wasting their second go at it by taking a commanding 8-0 lead after two innings.

Two innings later they matched that total to put things away and reward a Doral community that has waited 15 years to celebrate a home victory.

Doral Academy opened in 1999, and until this day the Firebirds had never enjoyed a baseball game on their campus.

“We’ve never really had the opportunity to have our own field, and just to be able to win at home with all the fans, our administration and everybody supporting us is a great feeling,” said senior catcher Chris Hernandez. “The first game we played here we were really so worried about playing for other people, playing for the fans to show ourselves off. But we knew we had to play for ourselves, and that is when we really play Doral baseball.”

Doral pounded out 11 hits as every starter reached base to contribute. With a gorgeous new surface just begging to have ball players run across it and pepper it with baseballs, the Firebirds proved happy to oblige.

“We tried not to make it a big deal,” said Doral Manager Steve Iglesias. “It was our second home game here and unfortunately the first time we came up short. I think the emotions had a lot to do with it. We just try to preach to these kids to come here and work hard every day, and slow the game down when they are playing it. We went to practice and worked on the little things, and it showed today.”

After starter RoyEvan Armas tossed a scoreless first inning on 18 pitches, the Firebirds wasted no time in putting runs on the scoreboard. Alejandro Juvier drilled a 2-2 pitch deep to center field and raced around the bases to slide ahead of the throw for a leadoff triple. A.J. Puigcerver quickly sent him home when he rolled an RBI single up the middle of the field.

Puigcerver was caught stealing on a strong throw from Victors’ catcher Jaime Gonzalez, but Chris Hernandez kept things going as he plunked a single into shallow centerfield and then gave way to courtesy runner Mauricio Gotera. Ryan Gronlier then sent the first pitch he saw to center for a single, and Carlos Pina drove Gotera across the plate on an infield groundout. Gronlier also scored during the inning when Brandon Gonzalez reached on an error.

The Victors (4-5-1) have been strong on the road this season, where they earned three of their four victories so far. Miami Christian Manager Chris Cuadra prefers to let his guys face the tough challenges of road environments such the likes of which they encountered on Wednesday at Firebirds Field.

“This game is based on failures, and we need to learn how to fail and then get back up and regroup,” said Cuadra. “The next day is a new day, and you’re going to play ball tomorrow. It was our third game of the week and we were a little short-handed with our pitching. We simply didn’t come out to play and we got beat.”

Already up 3-0 in the bottom of the second, Alejandro Juvier came through to cement his name into the fresh history at their new field. Andy Hernandez walked and Chris Martinez dropped a bunt down and reached ahead of the throw to turn the lineup back over to Juvier. The lanky third baseman fouled off a few pitches before putting a solid swing on a 0-2 offering and driving it over the right field fence for the Firebirds’ first home run at Firebirds Field.

“I was real excited, and I came to the plate ready to hit,” said Juvier. “I just came and imagined a base hit and gave a good swing. It feels amazing, and now I am part of the history of Doral Academy. This is the first game that we won here in Doral history, so it was big.”

Two batters later Chris Hernandez drove a pitch to the same location to join Juvier as the only players to hit a dinger at Firebirds Field. Puigcerver was hit by a pitch to bring the Firebirds catcher to the dish for his second swings, and it was a moment the team’s captain relished to have for himself.

Chris Hernandez is the type of leader who is a magnet to the guys around him, the kind of teammate who brings out the best from his fellow peers. His performance provided much of the spark for his club on Wednesday afternoon, as he went 4-for-4 on the day and fell just short of hitting for the cycle in the process.

“I think that’s why Coach named me one of the captains of this team, is that he knows I have the ability to carry this team on my back when we need it most,” Chris said. “We came out 0-3 last week and I knew I needed to do something big to help get the first ‘W’ right here at Doral. It’s surreal and it really hasn’t hit me yet. But I’m sure later on when I get home it’s going to hit me. It’s a great feeling, it really is.”

The backstop was held on the bases after ripping a shot to centerfield in the fourth, settling for his second double on the afternoon rather than take a chance for that elusive triple, while driving in the last three on his six-RBI outing in the process.

Also putting his name into the team record books was Armas, who earned the victory with three innings of work in which he struck out four batters and allowed four hits and two walks.

Staring up from a big deficit in the third, the Victors battled to get themselves back into things. Chris Otero singled on the first pitch he saw and Aldo Ripley reached on an error to keep things going. Jaime Gonzalez stepped in to the right-handed batters box and jumped all over the first pitch to drive it to the deepest part of the ballpark for a three-run home run.

For the first time in his high school career, Gonzalez enjoyed the thrill of sending a hit over the fence. It was a nice outing for the junior catcher, who added a double in the fifth and also threw out three runners from behind the plate.

Even despite putting runners on in each of the next two frames, Miami Christian was unable to pull any closer before the Firebirds caught a second burst of momentum in the bottom of the fourth.

“We cut it to five, but again the pitching and defense let us down,” said Cuadra. “It’s hard to keep pounding away when you’re down and down. We were out there on defense for at least thirty or forty minutes.”

The Victors will play the rest of their games on the road this season, and Cuadra expects the team to grow and learn from this loss. The squad will host the district tournament this year, and it will be a long-awaited homecoming for the players once that time arrives.

For Doral, Wednesday felt like they had finally clicked their ruby red cleats together three times and said those famous magical words “There’s no place like home”. The Firebirds big win could be seen from the walkways of the school building set behind it, and many fellow classmates were able to attend and enjoy the big day for their program.

It was a long time coming to get this field built on campus, and one that took a lot of effort from a lot of good people. Yet it all seemed like a blur after watching their team put on a show for their eager home audience.

“As a coach it feels great having the administrators that we do, that back up the baseball program the way they do, and who build something this nice,” said Coach Iglesias. “These eight seniors are going to remember this, and this whole team is going to remember this for the rest of their lives. This program has never had a home field, and a lot of our games were on the road at different parks wherever we could. Now to have something we can call home is great for these guys.”

In years past, home games meant the responsibility to arrange busing and book a playing field somewhere nearby. Now it means the club must make all the arrangements of the host site, and particularly to take the steps to prepare the field itself. It is work that can grow tiresome and tedious at times, but for right now it is something that the Firebirds are eager to do. Having the field is a lot of work, and they love that they are able to do it.

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