Diaz & Arriera Pitch Westland Hialeah Past Reagan, 7-3

The Westland Hialeah Wildcats next two games will be the final remaining contests they have against district opponents before the 7A-16 tournament begins. On Tuesday afternoon they readied themselves for that stretch run by besting the Ronald Reagan Bison by a score of 7-3. It was their third victory in a row and improves their season record to 12-7, with a 7-1 district mark that puts them tied for first with American in 7A-16.

The Wildcats offense tacked on the deciding runs in the third inning on three hits and a walk. The lone walk being to the leadoff batter Ronel Rodriguez. After Rodriguez walked to start the inning, the hot-hitting Hernandez roped a double into the right-center field gap, scoring Rodriguez from first base. After an infield miscue advanced Hernandez to third base and allowed Lavastida to reach base safely, a David Vazquez single loaded the bases for the second time in three innings.

After a ground ball to the third baseman failed to score Hernandez because of a nifty play by Christian Delos Santos, up stepped junior first baseman Alexei Ortiz. The junior delivered by driving a ball deep enough to score Lavastida and setting up an RBI opportunity for Rolando Martinez. The freshman didn’t waste any time as he swung at the first pitch he saw and smacked a single into the outfield for the third run of the inning.

That was plenty of offense that the Wildcats pitching needed.

“We received great pitching from our number one and number two,” said Westland Hialeah Manager Jose Alvarez. “Both guys we used have been great all year, and we are fortunate for that.”

The visiting Wildcats staked an early lead by jumping on first-pitch fastballs that ultimately led to two runs in the top of the first. Ronel Rodriguez started the game off with a base hit, and was followed up by an Evander Hernandez single that placed runners at first and second. A walk to junior Bryan Lavastida loaded the bases and brought the infield to the mound for a conference with starting pitcher Carlos Mancilla.

A ground ball to the shortstop allowed Rodriguez to score the first run of the game and put Hernandez on third base and Lavastida on second. One of the teams most reliable hitters, Luis Jose, took advantage by going with the pitch and knocking a single to right field, driving in Hernandez and making it 2-0.

The Bison started their half of the first off with two singles of their own, placing Jose Negron and Rafael Rodriguez on the corners with no outs. Before the next pitch was thrown Negron scored on a botched pick off attempt that went past the first basemen and into right field, plating Negron and advancing Rodriguez to third, still with no outs. Wildcats starter Ogandys Diaz settled down and retired the next two batters in order before a passed ball allowed Rodriguez to plate the second run of the inning and tie things back up.

Bison starter Carlos Mancilla pitched three innings, gave up five runs, four earned, six hits and allowed two walks while fanning one and also received the loss. He was replaced by left-handed-pitcher Guillermo Delgado.

Reagan answered back with an unearned run in the bottom of the third. Miguel Bernal scored on an infield error by the Wildcats, making the score 5-3 after three innings.

The Bison didn’t score another run for the rest of the game after the third inning.

The top of the fifth saw the Wildcats add two insurance runs and essentially seal the fate of the Bison players. A one-out double by Luis Jose got the inning rolling for the Wildcats. Alexei Ortiz knocked Jose in for his second RBI of the day. After a single advanced Ortiz to third base, an errant throw on a stolen base attempt allowed Ortiz to score the final run of the ball game.

A very impressive pitching performance by Giovanni Arriera would be all the excitement needed for the rest of the game. Arriera simply carved up the Bison lineup for the next two innings. The 6’1 junior demonstrated college-level stuff and should be getting some calls in the near future. He didn’t allow another hit and struck out five in 2.1 innings of relief for the Wildcats.

Ogandys Diaz received the win in an impressive outing that saw him throw four and two-third innings, while allowing two earned run, six hits and striking out four. Arriera came on when Diaz got in a little bit of trouble in the fifth and finished the job by blowing a fastball by the Bison batter, recording his first of five strikeouts of the afternoon.

“We started Giovanni Arriera the last time we played these guys so we wanted to switch it up this time around,” said Alvarez. “We have all the faith in the world in Ogandys and feel confident with him every time he takes the mound.”

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