Southridge Wins First District Title In 18 Years

Over the past 18 years, the Southridge baseball team has had many good teams, teams that have competed at some of the highest levels in South Florida. What they hadn’t done, however, in that time frame, was bring home a district title.

Until Friday night.

Southridge received tremendous pitching performances from Christian Fontaine and Santiago Velasco, and scored four runs in the first three innings, then held on to defeat Doral 4-1 in the 6A=16 Championship.

“I just super proud of my guys,” said Manager Manny Ojeda. “It has been 18 long years, and to be able to win a district title for the community, the administration, the school, and everyone associated with the program, is truly a special feeling.”

The Spartans and Firebirds played back in February, but that game went much different than the one Friday night. Doral won the game in February 7-1. The Firebirds are again one of the top teams in the state, and have been the talk of the district and county for much of the year.

But while Doral was getting the national and local press, Southridge was quietly putting together one of their best seasons in the past two decades, going 18-5 coming into the district final.

Ojeda and his staff came onboard three years ago, and the Spartans have been building since towards the result they finally broke through and received on Friday.

“Proud of every one of the individuals that played today, and that worked over the past few years to get to this point,” said Ojeda. “The whole team, and coaching staff, they worked really hard, and they earned that title.”

The Southridge lineup was hot all night, piling up 10 hits. Four of the Spartans starters, Jonathan Paniagua, Francis Garcia, Carlos Gutierrez, and Nico Perez, had two hits apiece. Each also drove in one of the four Southridge runs.

On the mound, Fontaine went the first five innings, allowing only three hits and one earned run. Velasco threw a perfect final two innings, securing the win.

“Christian did an amazing job, and then Santi coming in and closing it out. The pitching was the key to the win today,” said Ojeda.

Doral, despite the loss, will be one o the favorites, along with Southridge, and St. Thomas out of Broward, when the regional playoffs begin next week.

For Southridge, they will take some time to enjoy the first district title for the school in 18 years, before they turn their attention to preparing for the regional quarterfinals.

“What we accomplished as a program tonight was phenomenal,” said Ojeda. “These guys have stayed with the vision, and kept going, kept grinding all year. Now we have to do that again to get ready for next week.”

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