Steal of home, late comeback propel Miami Christian back to the state final
Roylan Quevedo didn’t even look at his dugout — he just took off.
A couple seconds later, Quevedo was sliding safely across the plate with a steal of home for the first run of Miami Christian’s Class 2A state semifinal.
But three innings later, Quevedo would also drive in the most important run of the game when he hit a one-out grounder to short that resulted in an error and put the Victors ahead for good in a 4-2 victory over Orlando Foundation Academy on Monday at Hammond Stadium.
Quevedo and right fielder Jesus Mosegue each drove in runs with ground balls that were mishandled by Foundation Academy shortstop Zack Grzeszczak, contributing to a three-run sixth inning that sealed the win.
Miami Christian (28-3) will take on Tallahassee North Florida Christian on Tuesday at 4 p.m. with a chance to win its third state title in five seasons after winning back-to-back championships in 2018 and 2019.
Miami Christian coach Chris Cuadra, whose team lost in the regional finals in 2021, talked after the win about the team’s drive to get back to state after losing former assistant coach Ernesto Gonzalez following a battle with cancer.
“We lost the heart and soul of our team [when that happened],” Cuadra said. “We were down last
year, so this means a lot for us to get back here again. It made us hungrier and I wanted us to work from day one.”
If Miami Christian prevails Tuesday, it would be its fourth state title overall. The Victors won their first in 1975. One of the architects of that title run was on hand on Monday: former Miami Christian ace Bill Leathers, who pitched the Victors to a pair of wins in the same day as they had to play a doubleheader at state that year at Frostproof High.
“It was 47 years ago for me and it feels like last week,” said Leathers, who served in the Navy and is now a retired commercial airline pilot living in Pensacola. “If these kids win [Tuesday], they’ll remember that for the rest of their lives.”
Although the Victors would need more after starter Chris Diaz surrendered a two-run home run to Braden Holcomb, a Vanderbilt signee, that gave the Lions (21-8-1) a 2-1 lead, Quevedo’s steal of home was the most thrilling play of the game.
The Victors broke through on the play after being held hitless to that point despite Foundation Academy starter Ty Cannon issuing three walks, including the one that put Quevedo on base.
“That was the craziest play I’ve made my whole life,” said Quevedo, an FIU signee. “We were struggling with the curveballs [their pitcher] was throwing and being too anxious. I knew somehow we needed to get this first run. I didn’t even tell my coach — I just took it, and
luckily I was safe.”
Diaz recovered quickly after the swing in momentum following Holcomb’s home run to left center and induced a couple of pop-ups to end the sixth.
Anthony Fernandez and Diego Melendez opened the next inning by drawing walks.
Two batters after Holcomb took over for the Lions on the mound, Mosegue hit a ball deep in the hole at short that was bobbled by Grzeszczak, allowing Fernandez to score and tie the game. Melendez then scored on a similar play.
Mosegue would follow, scoring on a wild pitch by Holcomb.
“I felt our guys never hit the panic button, and we remained confident,” Cuadra said. “When we
get to this stage, we know we’ll play one-run ball games, so it’s just a matter of executing.”
Diaz locked things down from that point by retiring the final five batters he faced and ending the game with one of his seven strikeouts.
“I felt like I was in the zone and everything was working,” said Diaz, who returned to Miami Christian’s rotation recently after dealing with an oblique strain.
“[My oblique] felt a little tight, but we worked around it and I was able to give my defense a chance to make some plays and get out of jams.”