Doral Academy Walks Off Varela In Ninth To Win 6A-16

The Felix Varela Vipers (16-4-1) gave it their all on Thursday night in the 6A-16 championship against Doral Academy (21-6), but it was the Firebirds that came out on top of an nine-inning, 3-2, thriller that ended via a walk-off from Miami commit and draft prospect Adrian Santana.

Doral’s most dangerous hitter got the job done when his team needed it most. Santana hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Justin Ruiz and the celebration was on.

“Sometimes in the playoffs, you’re going to run into some games that are tight,” Firebirds manager Ralph Suarez said. “And the great teams find a way to win. Today was one of those days. You have to give a lot fo credit to the Varela team. They played hard.”

Miami commit Michael Torres homered to right field in the third, and Wilfred Gonzalez bunted him in during the fifth to give Doral a 2-0 lead. Luis Rodriguez got the start and last five strong innings, but he got pulled in the top of the sixth after walking three-straight batters.

Torres came in to relieve Rodriguez and got out of the inning, but a run still scored in exchange for an out off the bat of Amaury De Jesus. An error tied things up in the top of the seventh, and neither team could get ahead in the eighth.

Pedro Acosta pitched the eighth and ninth for Doral, while Varela leaned on Isaiah Espinosa for five innings and turned to Hector Gonzalez for the final 3 1/3 frames. Gonzalez finished the night with six strikeouts and Espinosa has four.

Doral should finish as the top seed in the region, giving the Firebirds a home-field advantage through the regional tournament. Anyone who has played at Doral Academy during the playoffs can relay that it is a raucous environment, so that should only benefit the Firebirds moving forward.

Varela’s strong season should also continue with an at-large bid. The Vipers proved tonight that they’ll be one of the toughest at-large teams in the region.

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