Miami Springs Wins HSBN March Madness Shootout

Miami Springs is having one of those seasons that most programs can only dream about. Since going to states in 2019, the Golden Hawks have spent the past few seasons competing at a high level.

But in 2025, Springs is reaching heights that even that 2019 team never reached. On Wednesday night, the Hawks continued their magical season, by defeating COHEA 8-1, and capturing the HSBN March Madness Shootout tournament championship.

“The boys came oiut and played well this week,” said Manager David Fanshawe. “We had some solid pitching performances, good defense, and timely hitting, which together, propelled us to winning the championship.”

Pitching was at the forefront in the title game, with Magdiel Estevez holding the Bulldogs offense down all night, allowing only three hits in six innings of work. Estevez gave up only one run and did not walk a batter, while striking out four.

“Tonight we just ran into a pitcher who threw the ball extremely well,” said Bulldogs Manager Laz Fundora. “We battled all week, but we just ran out of gas tonight. They have a great team over there, and they showed why they deserve to be champions.”

The Hawks wasted no time taking control of the title game, scoring three runs in the first inning. Darian Soto had an RBI single, and Estevez helped his own cause with a two-run single of his own, staking Springs to a 3-0 lead.

Estevez then threw five innings of one run ball, before providing offensive insurance with an RBI double in the Hawks half of the fifth. Andres Suarez had an RBI sacrifice fly in the inning, extending the lead to 5-0.

Estevez and Soto combined to go 4-for-8, with six RBIs on the night.

In the seventh, Estevez handed the ball off to Josiah Acosta, who threw a perfect inning to secure the championship game win.

The win was the Hawks fourth in a row, and sixth in the last seven games. On the season, they are 17-2, and have spent the entire year either first or second in the HSBN Miami Power Rankings.

Their two losses were by a combined four runs, and Wednesday’s win avenged one of those losses, a 3-1 loss to COHEA back on March 7th.

While the offense has been there at times for Springs, Fanshawe credits other areas of the game with sustaining the run they are on.

“Pitching and defense has been the key to our success so far this season.”

The Hawks will try to make it back-to-back tournament titles next week, when they return from Spring Break to play in the GMAC tournament. They then will only have only one regular season week left until the district tournament playoffs start April 14th.

“We are hoping to continue to play well and keep our momentum going into the GMAC next week, and then play well as we head into the playoffs,” said Fanshawe.”

For COHEA, the March Madness tournament was a mirror into how the Bulldogs up-and-down season has gone in 2025. They won two one-run games to make the title game, before running into the Hawks.

Despite the title game loss, Fundora understands the value of playing the top competition.

“This tournament was an excellent experience for our guys. We played great competition, and we held our own. I am very proud of our guys for the way they showed up and competed this week.”

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