Miami Springs Holds Off Goleman To Claim 6A-15 Crown

6A-15 Championship Gallery

All year long the Miami Springs baseball team has supported one another and played as one big family. Through any adversity the players and coaches were there for another, staying the course and believing in one another. Even after a tough start they believed they could make this season special, and through it all they never stopped believing.

Thursday afternoon that dream became a reality, as the Golden Hawks held off a tough and feisty Goleman squad 6-5 to claim the 6A-15 championship. It is the program’s first district title since 2007, and the Golden Hawks (16-9) also advanced to the regional playoffs for the first time since 2009 after making it to the title game.

The Gators (14-10) had won the title in each of the last two seasons in their previous districts, and had come into Thursday’s game as the number one seed hungry to keep that streak going. Goleman won a coin toss to earn the top seed after the two teams split their regular-season series. Although Miami Springs was the district host, the club played as the road team, and even resigned themselves to use the visitor’s dugout at Shelly Dunkel Field at Miami Springs High.

But in the end the Hawks celebrated their big moment on their home field in front of many of their home fans. It was a moment a long time coming for Manager Willie Vasquez and his players, who were thrilled beyond words when that time came.

“Let me tell you, this is my alma mater and I’m the proudest guy out here,” said Vazquez. “I told these guys that when you leave this program you leave a legacy behind. Now they have a legacy. I know what my legacy was, and now they have a legacy, which is outstanding. Unbelievable, this is just an unbelievable feeling. I am just like in shock right now and it feels great.”

Austin Voeller delivered the biggest hit of the afternoon, crushing a shot over the left field fence with the bases loaded in the top of the fifth for a grand slam that accounted for the deciding run. It was Voeller’s only hit of the day, and it was the type of play that most ball players have dreamed about and envisioned a million times when tossing the ball to themselves and hitting it in their backyard as a young child. Only this time the moment was not a dream, but rather a dream come true.

Already holding a one-run lead, the Hawks loaded the bags in the fifth to bring Voeller up for his big moment. Julio Mendez opened the frame by lining the first pitch he saw into left field, stole second base and then was awarded third on a balk call. After a strikeout, the Gators elected to intentionally walk Juan Kirk and Carlos Santana to try and set up a double-play that would have gotten them out of the inning.

Instead Voeller jumped on the first pitch he saw and drove it sailing high and far to left field, seeming to hang in the air forever before finally clearing the fence and erupting the “visiting” players, coaches and fans.

“It feels so good and I have been waiting for this for a long, long time,” Voeller said. “I’m just happy that we won districts as a family, as a team. That’s all I really care about. Thank God I came through with that hit. It feels so good. Willie did a helluva job this year coaching, he really did. I’m proud of that and I’m proud of my team that we came far. There’s still more to go and we’re still not satisfied yet.”

Miami Springs will now host Belen Jesuit in a Class 6A regional quarterfinal next week. Goleman will go on the road to play at Mater Academy on the other side of the 6A playoff bracket. While the playoffs start next week, the Hawks were not quite ready to look ahead until they made sure to take the chance to savor what they had just accomplished.

“Honestly, I’m not looking at them right now; I’m just going to enjoy this one and let them enjoy this one,” Vazquez said. “I think I have Belen and they are a great program and they are very well-coached. We’ll be back here on Saturday for some bp and go from there.”

Despite the tough loss, Goleman is comforted by the fact that the season is not over. The Gators are still just as alive in the playoff chase, and are hoping to win and advance farther than they have in each of the past two seasons.

“It’s extremely hard to sit down with the team after a tough loss, especially a championship game after winning three years in a row as well,” said Goleman Manager Jose Lopez. “I gave them motivation that in 2001 Hialeah High lost the district championship and they went on to states and won states. So that was what I told my boys just to keep them motivated to keep going. That’s the only hope that we have.”

The approach all season long has been to focus on the moment and not look past it. The Hawks have come a long way from the start of the season, when they began the year 1-4 and struggled for consistency, and they have played their best baseball of the season down the stretch when it mattered most. The key to their success has been in their unity, a team chemistry that has everyone trusting and believing in one another and being there to play their part from any spot on the roster.

“Since day one we always talk about chemistry,” Voeller said. “We always have each other’s backs no matter what; the first thing is family. When we’re outside and we’re inside here we’re all family and we have each other’s backs. Whatever it is to help your family, and whatever you have to do to win, you have to do it.”

The path to victory began in the top of the first, as Springs tallied an unearned run to take a lead it would never relinquish. Kirk reached on an error and gave way to courtesy runner Orlando Alfaro, and Santana followed by rolling an RBI single up the middle to bring him home. In the third Kirk delivered again, smacking an RBI double to center field to send home Marlon Castillo, who had singled through the left side to get on base.

The Gators refused to go down quietly. Goleman got on the scoreboard in the fourth, as Justin Barreneche dropped down a great bunt single to get on and then came home on an RBI single from Kevin Gomez.

The Gators edged even closer in the sixth, as Carlos Garrido led off with a double to left field and was replaced by pinch-runner Michael Pelaez. Kevin Perez followed with a single that pushed Pelaez to third, and then also got into scoring position on a passed ball. Erick Delgado then reached on an error that sent both runners home and made the game even tighter.

Goleman made one final push in the bottom of the seventh. Liam Lopez walked and Jonathan Jones followed by smacking a shot to left field that fell just out of reach of the diving fielder, pushing Lopez home in the process. A passed ball moved Jones to third, and Garido sent him home to pull within a run on a sacrifice flyout on a shot deep to center field.

Hawks starter Dylan Carter shook the intensity of the moment off, buckling down and recording a strikeout to end the game and spark the celebration. It was Carter’s third strikeout on the day, as the sophomore went the distance to earn the big victory. The right-hander was solid throughout, allowing only two earned runs while scattering six hits and two walks through his seven full innings of work.

“Let me tell you, that kid has one of the biggest hearts out here,” Vazquez said. “This morning he texted me and said ‘Coach, I’m winning this game and I’m going seven’. I am actually in shock that he did go seven and shut the door down for me. It’s incredible. He has not been able to get the defense behind him like today. This was the first time in a very long time that the defense was actually behind him today.”

While the late rally showed the fight and desire of his player’s it came as little consolation for Lopez.

“A loss is a loss and a win is a win,” Lopez said. “We had chances to score at times and we just didn’t come through. They played better baseball today and there was an inning that killed us when they had that four-run inning. You have to give them credit; they won. A loss is a loss by whatever score, and it is a tough loss.”

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