South Dade Focused On The Year Ahead

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Bucs Manager Fred Burnside admits that last year was a real thrill for everybody.

Junior catcher Gabe Cruz recalls the amazing feeling it was to bring it all together.

Every guy on the squad has their own version of the same epic story.

South Dade started 13-0, then went on a short slump and went 6-6 to follow. Then the playoffs came and The Bucs put it all together to go on a historic run that culminated with winning the Class 8A state championship.

It was the first state title for the program, and in his 23rd year at the high school level and sixth with the Bucs, Coach Burnside also got his first crown.

“I have been at it a long time and had been close a few times, and it was quite a ride,” said Burnside. “The baseball gods shine on you once in a while. Like I preach to my guys every year is what matters is who is playing well in late April, and we were as good as anybody then. We got a couple of breaks and it happened for us. It was just a great thing to be a part of.”

The Homestead community really stepped up to support the team, and their loyalty drove the players on the field. The Bucs went a perfect 14-0 on their immaculate home field, and then got a grand sendoff on their way to the West Coast for the state finals. Burnside laments how unbelievable the community really is and how they feel that energy and enthusiasm leaking onto the field. The guys feel they play in the best facility in town and they love it.

“Homestead is an amazing town, and every game was packed no matter if we played a small school or if we were playing Killian,” Cruz said. “Regardless of who it was there was always an electric crowd and they followed us all the way to states. They drove two hours to watch us play and the send off was just amazing. It is probably the best baseball place to play just because of the crowd.”

Cruz loves right when he steps on their home field to the National Anthem and he sees everybody there in black and blue. The guys are playing for their team and for the crowd, because the fans are there supporting them. Every pitch they hear the crowd pulling for them, so they just want to do it for the team, for themselves and also for the school and the city.

Now they have the confidence of having done it once already.

“Hopefully that will give us a little bit of an edge, but it’s a whole new gig now,” Burnside said. “I don’t look at it as defending a title. Every time somebody beat our football team this year it was like revenge, and I told our kids nobody can take away the accomplishments of last year. It’s a new year and a new battle and last year has nothing to do with it. I don’t think you play the game for revenge; kids are just trying to win and everybody wants to get that title.”

The team is more than ready to move on from last year’s laurels and get back to playing baseball. The only way to really feel that thrill is to live it again.

“Last year is last year and we just have to keep going,” said sophomore Alek Manoah. “It will feel good to have two instead of one. Personally, being in that atmosphere and playing that kind of hot baseball, there is nothing like it. Of course I’d like to be there again. We got our rings this fall, and seeing that ring just makes me hungry for another one.”

The team graduated a few very important pieces from a year ago, but also returns a large portion of those players who made major contributions. Cruz and Manoah are part of a high-caliber offense that also includes Yan Barrios, Danny Vaughan and Arturo Paula. Senior ace Jose Gorordo returns to lead a pitching staff that also features Salvatore Finocchino and Devin Mead.

Just like in years past, the team expects more guys to come forward and make their mark. The team has great chemistry and it is a great environment for success. Guys are always hanging out and keeping in touch, and they stayed close all throughout the summer. They have enjoyed winning together and they want to keep on winning together.

Every guy on the club has a role, and every guy knows they are important to the cause. At the same time it is hard to overlook the energy that starts with lots of the veterans. Last year Manoah was the young kid on the squad, the guy who felt like he was every guy’s younger brother. But he also brought tremendous energy to the team, and guys began to feed off of him.

This year Manoah is focused on being the best teammate he can be, working hard on and off the field to make sure all the heads are in the right spot. He embraces the chance to be more of a leader, and he has earned their respect.

“Most people think a sparkplug is a leadoff batter, a little hundred pound guy, but I am big and I have more energy than anybody,” Manoah said. “I am there for my teammates; when they are down and when they are up. We have fun. I do that to them and they do it right back for me. When I am in a hard spot they always find a way to pump me up. It’s not that hard to get me out of a bad mood anyways.”

The team will need that kind of outlook as they return to action in the toughest district in all of Class 8A. Their district this year is as strong as ever. Whoever survives it has a great shot at winning it all, as the Bucs proved last year.

The team has a very stout schedule outside of its district as well. The Bucs will face fellow 8A district winners Columbus and Miami, as well as Southwest. The team will also travel to Sarasota for a tough Spring Break tournament.

Having seen what a championship path looks like, the team will focus now on trying to make this season its own something special and not just an attempt at replicating last year. Each year is a new group with different nuisances. It is impossible to do something the exact same way, even if it all went as well as could be expected.

“As I said afterwards, the euphoria from it hangs around for a while,” said Burnside. “But the reason I coach is not just to win it; it’s the trying that counts. I just enjoy the challenge of putting a team together, and you never know when it is going to click like it did for us last year. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t, but every coach strives for it. You never now when somebody is going to step up and make a big play and suddenly your whole season turns around.”

Burnside says he can replay last year and bring it down to one pitch against Flanagan. With a late lead the Bucs had their best hitter in a 2-0 count and he popped it up. Burnside said that put them right there, but the difference between winning and losing is that microscopic.

There are plenty other teams out there looking for their own special story. The Bucs stand in the way of their dreams, just like those teams are what stand in the way for South Dade to make it two in a row. Everybody is going to see them coming, but they are ready to take them on again.

“We have got a big red target on our back,” said Cruz. “We saw it already in the fall. Every team that comes out is going to throw their ace, and fall teams threw their best guy for six innings just to beat us. If they do beat us it’s like they won the World Series. It’s motivation now because we are kind of fat and happy, so we want to show why we are the best and why we won our state title.”

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