Norland Rallies For 7-6 Win Over Miami Springs

The Norland Vikings next game will be the final contest they have against district opponents before the 6A-15 tournament begins. On Wednesday afternoon they shook things up in a heated 6A-15-playoff race by besting the Miami Springs Golden Hawks, who currently are in second place in the district, by a score of 7-6. It was the Vikings’ second victory in a row and improves their season record to 8-5, with a 3-4-district mark that puts them in fourth place in 6A-15.

“We received great pitching today from both Tyrone Miller and Brandon Carter,” said Norland Head Coach Andre Payne. “Timely hitting is something that wasn’t there for us all year, but I think today we did a great job of that.”

Vikings starting pitcher Tyrone Miller was battle-tested Wednesday. He proved worthy of the win after collecting three strikeouts, while allowing four earned runs in five and-a-third innings of work. What Miller had going for him most was the support of his teammates.

“My coaches tell me if I play hard and come out and do what I am supposed to do, my teammates will feed off of that,” said Tyrone Miller. “I know that when I am out there, the guys behind me want this as badly as I do. We just want to win.”

The Viking offense tacked on the deciding runs in the fifth inning on two hits and a fielder’s choice. The first single came off the bat of Dimitri Duverger. Duverger singled to start the inning and then swiped second base, followed by a ground ball to the shortstop that advanced him to third. A fielders choice with an error on the back end allowed Duverger to score. After an error allowed the base runner to advance to second, a Brandon Carter RBI single plated the runner and gave the Vikings the final advantage.

“Brandon is still a young kid; he’s only 16 and still learning his body,” said Payne. “I rely on him and our team relies on him. He is our team’s best stick and one our better pitchers.”

The two runs in the fifth would be all the Vikings pitching needed to close out the rest of the game.

“The team played good. They had their ups and downs, but in the end they bared down and stuck together,” said Norland Assistant Coach Michael Jordan. “Today everything worked out great for us, and we let the league know we are still a good team and nobody can sleep on us.”

The visiting Golden Hawks staked an early lead by getting the bats going early and often, which ultimately led to two runs in the top of the second inning. Orlando Borotto started the hitting off with a base hit, and was followed up by a Gabriel Perez single that placed runners in scoring position. After both runners scored on a throwing error and an RBI single, the Golden Hawks capitalized on a defensive miscue by the Vikings and scored two more runs via a ground out and walk.

Golden Hawks starter David Cervantes pitched five innings, gave up three earned runs on six hits and fanned four.

The Vikings got their half of the second going by earning a base the hard way. Junior Khalil Harris was beamed with a fastball and made them pay by stealing second and third. This set up an RBI opportunity for Jahmarr Bien-Aime, who delivered with an RBI single that plated Khalil. After Bien-Aime snagged second base and Tyrone Miller walked, Roderick Lucas smacked a single that hopped up over the glove of the outfielder, allowing Bien-Aime and Miller to score.

Miami Springs answered back with a run of their own in the top of the third. Orlando Borotto scored on and RBI single off the bat of Gabriel Perez making the score 5-3 in favor of the Golden Hawks.

The Golden Hawks didn’t score another run until the top of the seventh inning.

The Vikings scored two more runs to tie the game in the bottom of the third inning. After Brandon Carter reached base safely, the always dangerous Khalil Harris crushed a double that made its way past the Golden Hawk outfield and allowed Carter to plate easily without a throw.

The bottom of the fifth saw the Vikings burst through for two more runs. A leadoff single by Dimitri Duverger got the inning under way for Vikings. Two runs came into score via a fielders choice and an RBI single by Carter.

Brandon Carter closed out the seventh. After back-to-back strikeouts, the junior got himself into some trouble and gave up a single to senior Victor Perez, walked senior Obel Vega, and watched the energetic Dylan Carter reach base on an error that loaded the bases for the Golden Hawks. Carter then breathed a sigh of relief when he got the next batter to roll over to the shortstop for the easy flip to second for the final out of the ball game.

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