Poletto, Joseph Homer in Pace’s 3-2 Win Over Sunset

In a battle of Miami-Dade top-10 ranked teams, #2 Monsignor Pace jumped out to an early lead and then hung on to turn back #9 Sunset, 3-2, at home Tuesday.

Solo first-inning home runs by Dyson Joseph and Joshua Poletto gave the Spartans an early 2-0 lead. A sacrifice fly in the third inning, scoring Poletto, who walked, extended the lead to 3-0.

But Sunset made it a one-run game with two runs in the fifth. Angel Santiago delivered an RBI-single, plating Anthony Gonzalez before Damian Leyva brought home Diego Rivero with a clutch two-out single.

That’s when Pace manager Tom Duffin went to his bullpen and summoned Ricky Hernandez. It was a very good move. Hernandez recorded the final out of the inning and then went on to finish the game, retiring the last six batters in order.

Hernandez worked 2.1 innings in relief to pick up the save. He allowed just one hit and struck out two in preserving the game for Spartans starter Dylan Llanes. The senior left-hander got the win after working 4.2 innings. He yielded just three hits and struck out six.

It somewhat overshadowed an outstanding relief effort from Sunset’s Josh Perez, who threw five innings while giving up only three hits and one earned run. He struck out four and walked only one.

Robert Kramer delivered two of Pace’s five hits. Ricky Hernandez also added one.

“We played a great team on the road and we played them tough,” said Sunset manager Julio Mendoza. “Unfortunately, we didn’t score enough runs today but Josh Perez and Brandon Espinoza kept us in the game.”

The Spartans (15-2) host Somerset Academy for a 7 p.m. Wednesday game.

Nick Adrian and Jonathan Diamond had one hit each for Sunset. The Knights (12-7) host Brito at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 18.

“As we get closer to the playoffs it’s great to see our team play a good team on the road and compete at the level they did,” Mendoza said. “It was a tough game. It’s tough to win on the road against a good team. But at the end of the day, we gave ourselves a chance in the last inning to put something together and that’s all you can ask for.

“Aside from that, it was an honor getting to coach against Tom Duffin in his last season. I spent many years coming to Pace games and watching coach Duffin. He’s always put a good product on the field and he’s been a class act while doing so. Today was a special day.”

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