Miami Jackson Survives A Furious Comeback By Norland

With the postseason just weeks away, the teams on the brink of the race need all the wins they can get if they hope to be playing deep into the spring. Tuesday night, Miami Jackson pitcher Yordy Cabrera made sure that his team would live to fight another day, pitching six-plus innings of two-hit ball and striking out nine in a 3-1 victory over the Norland Vikings.

Cabrera, who moved to 4-4 on the year and almost pitched his eighth complete game. The strong outing by the 6’1″ sophomore was much needed for manager Rafael Jiron and the Generals (9-8), who had lost three of their last four and were desperate for a strong pitching performance to save the bullpen from further work. Thankfully for Jiron, Cabrera was on his game from the get-go, allowing just two total baserunners before the start of the seventh inning.

Jackson got on the scoreboard early when Kerlin Mateo drove a single to left field to bring home leadoff hitter Joel Rivera in the bottom of the first inning. The Generals added a run in the bottom of the fourth when, after Edgar Cruz walked and stole second to start the inning, teammate Julio Santana singled the senior home. Rivera came home for the team’s third and final run in the bottom of the fifth, scoring on a sacrifice fly from Armando Prieto.

Norland struggled for the first six innings against Cabrera, but attempted a comeback in the top of the seventh with a Max Gordon leadoff double and a four-pitch walk to Joshua Ceballos. Jiron then made the call to the bullpen and brought Mateo in to close things out. Though Mateo allowed Giovanny Ocampo to record an RBI single and he also hit freshman Aaron Borno with a pitch to score Gordon and load the bases, the senior recorded the final two outs to seal the win.

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