Braddock Comes Back For 12-9 Win Over Columbus
Braddock Manager Manny Fernandez admitted how proud he was of his team and how proud he is to be their coach following Wednesday’s big home victory.
The Braddock coaches keep telling their players it is twenty as one. The guys have come together to believe in this mantra, and the results are starting to speak for themselves. The club came into it’s latest game on a six-game winning streak, all against district opponents.
Wednesday afternoon the Bulldogs overcame their greatest challenge yet, bouncing back from a big deficit to prevail with a 12-9 home victory over District 8A-15 rival Columbus. The Explorers erupted for a seven-run frame in the third, but Braddock exhibited the grit and gusto of true Bulldogs to fight back for the big victory. The club remains atop the district standings with a perfect 7-0 mark, as well as a 9-3 record overall.
When the hosts fell behind by six runs, the coaches called the players together and told them the only thing they didn’t want the players to do was to quit. The players remained intense, and they continued to believe they could win all the way to the ending celebration.
“It’s a great win,” said Bulldogs Manager Manny Fernandez. “Any time you beat Columbus it is a great win because they are a phenomenal club. They are always ready to play and they have great players and a great coaching staff. So it is a great merit to our kids. Any time you have a team that comes back from a 7-1 deficit against a great team, you have to tip your hat off to them. I did that today and I am very proud of them and very proud to be their coach right now.”
It is no secret that the Explorers (10-3) are typically the hunted guys in their district. Wednesday’s loss was their first in district play, where they now sit in second place with a 5-1 district mark. The club now finds itself in unfamiliar territory, with a team ahead of it for it to chase, as opposed to the other way around. More important than the district standings is the understanding that the battle for the district crown this year could be as fierce as ever.
Columbus third baseman Jackie Urbaez had a two-RBI double and also made several nice plays at the hot spot.
“It certainly was a battle,” Columbus Manager Joe Weber said. “It wasn’t the best pitched game or the best defensively-played game, but it was a good battle. We knew when we were coming here that we were going to face a good team, and they came out on top today.”
The game was every bit as intense and exciting as any played yet this season. The seesaw affair saw four lead changes and tons of memorable moments. The two clubs exchanged blows to battle back and forth, leaving little indication which would ultimately prevail on this day. In the top of the fifth Gabe Rivera and Danny Bello had consecutive RBIs to plate Chris Vinson and Hernan Sardinas to pull Columbus even at a 9-9 deadlock.
In the bottom half of the fifth inning Braddock answered back for the final blow. The Bulldogs loaded up the bases with some discipline at the plate, as Evan Valverde, Willie Padron and Joseph Lorie all worked walks. Senior Anthony Alvarez wasted no time to deliver the biggest hit of the day, jumping on his first offering and lining it deep into the right-center field gap for a base-clearing single that delivered the winnings runs.
Anthony played a big role throughout. First, he gave Braddock an early 1-0 lead when he scored on an RBI single from Jean Marcel Martinez in the bottom of the first. He then provided the final key ingredient by coming on to close out the game in the top of the seventh, after Sardinas and Gabe Rivera both reached base to bring the tying run to the plate. The right-hander closed the door by shutting down the next three batters.
“I was just trying to get the ball up the middle, and it went to the right side and everybody scored,” Anthony said. “Then I came out and closed the game. It was pretty good. We do this every game; we come out and play with our hearts and don’t quit all the way to the end.”
That resolve was evident throughout the contest. The Bulldogs chipped back with a couple of runs in the third, thanks to some great team hitting. Yandy Morales led off the inning with a single, Padron was hit by a pitch and then Lorie sent a fly out deep enough to right field to allow Yandy to tag up and move to third. Yandy came home on a wild pitch, and Padron followed when Miguel Rivera split the right-center gap for an RBI double.
Rivera delivered big again an inning later with a two-RBI double that capped a six-run frame that put Braddock back on top. Nelson Alvarez sparked things with a leadoff double, and Padron also had an RBI single and scored during the inning. Steven Barreto, Yandy and Lorie all also reached and scored in the third. Braddock pounded out nine hits overall, and had strong at bats all throughout the day.
“We put a lot of practice in here and we bat in the cages everyday,” Miguel Rivera said. “We think about cuts and we just practice hard. We practice how we play. To be honest, I am not surprised. This team has the ability to do a lot of things and we just keep working together as a team to win every game.”
Anthony Alvarez came on in the seventh to close out the win and earn the save for the Bulldogs.
Columbus is also a squad that rightfully believes it can win every time out. Early on the Explorers flexed their might by sending 11 batters to the plate in the third to pull well ahead. Jackie Urbaez doubled to score Matt Alfonso and Danny Casals, and, after Chris Vinson walked, Sardinas blasted a shot well over the 320-foot fence in right field for a three-run home run. Gabe Rivera followed with a single, and Nick Rocha connected for his second hit of the inning to drive Rocha home.
While the game got away from them in the end, the Explorers know the season is also far from over.
“Big games are in April and May. This is all preseason, basically,” Weber said. “You want to be playing hot at the end of the year, and right now we are not firing on all cylinders. We’ll go back to work in practice tomorrow and try and get better. But hats off to Braddock; they swung the bats really good.”
Even as Braddock also knows Wednesday’s result is still just one win in a long season, the club can take a lot of confidence away knowing how it played to make the win happen. Guys played with confidence and faith, every man on the field and also in the dugout remained intense and supportive throughout, and most importantly the squad trusted that they have every bit of ability it would take to win.
“This shows us that we can beat anyone, no matter the deficit or who we are playing,” Padron said. “The coaches just tell us to work as a team and keep the ball moving. Don’t be the hero; just get it to the next guy. That is what happened.”
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