Sunset in 1st regional final since 2013
Miami Sunset spent the past two years just trying to figure out how to win a baseball game.
A year later, the
Knights need just one win to make it to state for the first time.
Sunset’s remarkable turnaround season hit another high on Friday afternoon when the Knights rallied from a four-run deficit to beat St. Brendan 7-5 in a Region 4-4A semifinal at Raul Ibanez Field.
Senior center fielder Andres “Pupi” Gonzalez’s two-run walk-off home run over the left field fence lifted the Knights (16-8) to their first regional finals appearance since 2013 and second all-time for the school.
Gonzalez’s blast followed a game-tying single by senior catcher Nicholas Rodriguez to score junior shortstop Angel Santiago, who doubled to center with one out to start the rally.
Rodriguez, a USF commit, recently returned to action after suffering a torn labrum early in the season after starting pitcher Daniel Perruc filled in behind the plate during his absence.
Sunset, the No. 6 seed in the region that was coming off a road upset of No. 3 seed Jensen Beach, will next have to travel to top-seeded Key West (22-5) to face the Conchs on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.
St. Brendan (11-9), which was aiming to also make what would have been its first appearance in a regional final since 2013, scored four runs in the top of the fourth to take a 5-1 lead. Third baseman Alex Perez lined a ball back to the mound, bouncing it off the rubber and high into the air, allowing Luis Suarez to score from third. Suarez led off the inning with a triple before Sunset starter Chino Rivera nearly escaped the jam by retiring the next two batters. But Rivera walked catcher Rafael Rizo before Perez’s single. After another walk, first baseman Lucas Fernandez cleared the bases with a double.
Region 4-5A semifinal — American Heritage 3, Pembroke Pines Charter 2:
Freshman left-hander Spencer Krasner struck out 11 and Andrew Ortiz belted a two-run home run to lift American Heritage to the victory.
Heritage, the secondseed, moves on to the regional finals on Tuesday at top-seed Archbishop McCarthy, which defeated Riviera Beach Suncoast, 4-1.
“We’re going to McCarthy,” Heritage coach
Mike Macey said. “It’s not going to be easy. But it’s McCarthy. They know us and we know them.
We’ve never played them
Ain the regional final. The stakes have never been higher for us, or them. It’s going to be fun. It should be a great atmosphere over there.”
Jordan Rich added an RBI double in the fifth inning, which produced what became the decisive run.
Heritage (18-6) advancing over a gutsy
Pines Charter (14-12) was anticipated. But how it ended was the story of the night.
Krasner allowed just one hit and one run in 6 1⁄3 innings, and he was dominant. Things got interesting after the lefty was lifted with one on and one out in the seventh inning.
Reliever Antonio TurcoRivas got in deeper trouble by walking Thomas Lesmes, putting runners on first and second with one out. Bryan Barcenas, who started on the mound for Pines Charter, chopped an RBI single to right, putting runners on the corners for Dylan Escobar.
What occurred next was a play few, if anyone, at the park had previously seen. Escobar ripped a liner right at Turco-Rivas. The ball deflected off the pitcher’s glove as he was turning his body away from the hot liner. The glove fell to the ground, but the ball lodged inside the pitcher’s jersey.
Turco-Rivas retrieved the ball and threw to third base for what appeared to be an improbable gameending double play.
But the umpires gathered, and after a delay of several minutes, including the umpires making a call to get the exact interpretation of the rule, it was determined that the ball was dead. So therefore, no outs were made, and Escobar was awarded first base, which loaded the bases with one out.
“It’s a lodged ball,” Macey said. “It hit the glove and it got stuck in the jersey. It’s not necessarily a hit, but it’s not an out. Nobody advances. He’s awarded first base. I’ve never seen a play like that. I never heard that rule.”
When play resumed, Alejandro Puig floated an RBI single to center, making it a one-run game.
Still with the bases loaded, Turco-Rivas struck out Paul Abolafia, and the game ended on Sebastian Gonzalez’s fly ball to deep right field.
Andre C. Fernandez: @FernandezAndreC