Miami Springs Moves To Regional Semifinals With 4-0 Win

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Belen Jesuit had a simple plan for success in 2014, turn the ball over to sophomore ace Pablo Arevalo, score a few runs, and win ballgames.

On Thursday afternoon, Miami Springs had a formula of their own. Manager Willie Vazquez turned to David Cervantes on the hill, and the sophomore threw the game of his young career, helping the Golden Hawks defeat Belen Jesuit 4-0 in a regional quarterfinal game.

“He’s been like that all year,” said Vazquez, of Cervantes ability to show up big on Thursday. “If it’s a big game, and a big game environment, he wants the ball. You don’t usually think that sophomores can do that kind of job, but he’s done what he did today for us all this year.”

What Cervantes did on Thursday was keep Belen batters off balance for most of the afternoon. Cervantes was so dominant that he did not allow a hit until a pinch-hit double in the sixth. The double was the only hit Cervantes would allow on the day. He finished the game with five strikeout and two walks.

“All I was doing was trying to hit the corners and trying to keep the ball away from solid contact today,” said Cervantes. “We felt good out there today, because these fans that showed up gave us a good boost of energy from the start.”

The heavily pro-Miami Springs crowd was there to see the home team do something they haven’t done in over six years, win a regional playoff game.

“Usually I tell my players to block out the crowd and keep their heads between the lines,” said Vazquez. “But it was nice to see that many people show up to support us today.”

While Cervantes was cruising, Arevalo found himself in trouble for one of the only times this season. The sophomore came in to the regional quarterfinals match-up with the Hawks having not lost yet this season. The Hawks hitters, however, were patient at the plate, and were able to hit the ball hard for most of the day.

Arevalo and Cervantes matched zeroes into the bottom of the fourth. Miami Springs was able to break through in the fourth with three runs.

Marlon Castillo led off the inning with a walk. After a groundout back to Arevalo, Carlos Santana drove in Castillo with a base hit. Austin Voeller then followed with the second of two doubles he hit on the day. Voeller ended the day 3-for-3, with two doubles and an RBI.

“We work on hitting the ball the other way all the time,” said Voeller. “If it wasn’t for Coach Vazquez, we would not hit like that. He works with us all the time on hitting the ball to the opposite field. All we did today was execute our approaches.”

Domingo Cedeno closed the scoring in the fourth with an RBI double. All of a sudden the scoreless game turned into a 3-0 Hawks lead.

Springs added an insurance run in the sixth by stringing together three hits. The 4-0 lead was more than enough for Cervantes, who closed the final inning allowing only one walk, and getting the final out on a popup.

The win moves Miami Springs into a regional semifinal game with Mater Academy, who defeated Goleman later in the day on Thursday.

“To me, this is an unbelievable feeling,” said Vazquez. “To build this program back up, and put them in regionals this year, it’s unbelievable. It really is all about the coaches working hard, the kids working exceptionally hard, them listening. It’s a great feeling when everyone is working together.”

For Belen, their strong season ends on a sour note. After being one of the better teams all year in Miami, the Wolverines bats went cold at the wrong time.

“I don’t have answers for what happened the last two games,” said Belen Manager Jerry Albert. “We had an incredible season, but we just went cold at the wrong time. That happens in baseball. It’s disappointing because we thought we had a team that could make a real deep run this year. It didn’t work out. These guys are young, and hopefully they will use this as a learning experience and come back hungrier next year.”

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