Coral Gables Pays Back Hialeah In Game Of The Week

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Bryan Melendez felt like his pitches were a little off early on. So in between innings he worked with his bullpen catcher and got his pitches lower to where he wanted them. Going forward he found his curveball was falling in right and his fastball was going where it needed to be, and he knew he had his pitches working for him then.

With the right-hander into his groove and the offense putting up support behind him, Coral Gables pulled away for a 7-2 victory over host Hialeah in the HSBN Miami-Dade Game of the Week, played at Hialeah’s Alex Fernandez Field. German Reyes had the big hit in driving in the two winning runs, while Melendez earned the victory on the mound.

The win brings some payback for the Cavaliers, who had lost five straight in the friendly rivalry. The meeting has special importance to both Hialeah Manager Jonathan Hernandez and Gables Manager Phil Wisser, as the two are best friends who love playing their annual rivalry meeting.

“It’s great with the competitiveness and the joy of it being the Game of the Week against one of my best friends,” said Wisser. “He is like a brother to me and I love Jonathan to death, so it’s great to be back in the win column on him; he had a little streak on me that was hurting.”

Hernandez still holds a 5-4 overall record in the series, which includes a win in last year’s Game of the Week meeting at Coral Gables. The chance to continue this fun and healthy rivalry while also working to support charity efforts for the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Foundation only made the night that more special. With the playoffs right around the corner the two teams appreciated a big environment that would emulate those intense playoff games ahead.

Melendez knew this was going to be his night, and the left-hander took the hill for the Cavaliers (16-6) with focus and determination to make the most of his moment.

“I knew Wise wanted to beat them and he even told us he wanted revenge on them for beating us the past couple times, so I prepared myself mentally for this one. Now it feels awesome to get the win,” Melendez said.

Melendez has set a great example this season for the pitching staff, and Friday night was a great way to reward his efforts. He has been used in different roles either as a closer or to follow up some of the hard-throwing starters, and he has also gotten some spot starts along the way. After taking a tough loss last week to Miami Springs, the southpaw toed the rubber Friday night set to be a difference maker.

The beauty of baseball is that sometimes you have to fail in order to succeed. Melendez took a great focus and approach to make his start, and still Hialeah was able to find immediate success to derail those efforts.

Alexis Figueroa dropped down a nice bunt single with one out in the bottom of the first to get things going. Arnaldo Brito worked the count full and then jumped on a pitch up in the zone and clubbed it over the left field fence for a two-run home run that tied the game at two runs apiece. Coral Gables had taken the lead out of the gate when Franky Montesino was hit by a pitch and later scored on a wild pitch, and Elih Marrero came in on an RBI double from Yan Carlos Hernandez.

When Brito touched the plate following his trip around the bases it gave the Thoroughbreds a burst of confidence. Hialeah (5-16) has slowly come along with a roster full of young and promising talent. While the wins and losses may not be what they are hoping for, Hernandez could not help but appreciate the fact that everyone is buying in and working in the same direction.

“Being a young team down 2-0 in the first to Coral Gables, it could have easily went bad for us. But the guys responded and they played OK tonight,” Hernandez said. “They didn’t give up the whole way through and that’s all you can ask from the young club that I have. These guys knew that this week was going to be a big week. You always want to finish off on the right foot at the end of the season down the stretch. We took away three losses this week, but what I like from these guys is they continue to battle. They are battling the whole way through.”

Melendez also continued to battle, as he settled down to toss four scoreless innings before leaving the game after 70 pitches took him through the fifth. The left-hander picked up five strikeouts and took control of the tempo from out on the mound.

“I needed an inning to see how it was up there and find my groove,” Melendez said. “It felt way better when my pitches were finally falling into place. I knew where I needed to put it, either a groundout or whatever we needed to be done. That one inning we got three flyouts and that was what I needed.”

Melendez recorded 1-2-3 innings in both the second and fourth innings, then left on a high note to escape his only other threat of the night. Ramon Gil walked leading off the fifth, Branden Perdomo singled and Alex Miret walked to load the bases. The Thoroughbreds gambled on a suicide-squeeze, but the bunt popped straight back to Melendez. He snared the ball and then quickly fired to third to pick off the lead runner on the 1-5 double play.

The southpaw ended his night with his own brand of payback. Brito had singled in his second appearance against Melendez, and he quickly locked into another battle at the plate in his third trip. Melendez pounded the zone and Brito kept fouling them off, before finally he swung and missed on one.

“He was able to get into a little bit of a groove there for a while and do what he does,” said Wisser of his starter. “Bryan’s not a flamethrower but he’s got a little jump on the ball and he throws strikes. Lefties are always tough and every hitter always seems to have tough times against lefties. He pounds the strike zone and gives our defense a chance to make plays and gives us a chance to get a ‘W’. He’s done a phenomenal job for us this year.”

With their pitcher taking over, the Cavaliers offense went to work. After Reyes drove in Yan Carlos Hernandez and Coco Montes to put Coral Gables back on top in the third, they added some extra insurance in the fourth. Montesino singled to center, Marrero reached on a fielder’s choice and Montes reached on an error to fill the bases. Yancarlos drove home Montesino on a sac-fly to center, and two batters later Gabriel Guzman plated two more when he blasted a shot to left field for a double.

Yan Carlos Hernandez then put the finishing touches on the win by pitching two scoreless frames to end it.

“Anytime you can get a ‘W’ any day of the week against any opponent, and especially against a quality opponent like Hialeah, it is a great one obviously,” said Wisser. “I know they are having a down year this year and they’re very young, but it’s still a great program and a great tradition and they came out with a lot of intensity and a lot of fire. I know they are young and rebuilding but them down is like many teams when they are good.”

The Thoroughbreds flashed plenty of the talent they have, particularly on the mound. Freshman starter Erislandy Rivas was effective and attacked the talented Cavaliers lineup maliciously. The young right-hander only surrendered two earned runs and pounded the zone, throwing 47 of his 77 total pitches for strikes. Senior Thomas Borrego followed and tossed three scoreless relief innings, striking out five while allowing just two baserunners.

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