Facing early struggles this season, the Coral Gables Senior High varsity baseball team warmed up to face Immaculata La Salle High School at home. Attempting to rekindle their spirit after forfeiting three games in a row, Gables was prepared for the task at hand. Both teams came into the game with losing records, trying to acquire a win to help their standings.
Sophomore Carlos Torres started the game for Gables on the pitching mound. La Salle was making early contact in the first inning with countless foul balls. However, the Cavaliers forced a lineout, a pop out and a failed stolen base attempt to get their bats rolling.
La Salle began the game with frequent mistakes including a hit by pitch walk and a balk resulting in a Gables runner on second base. Stealing third, sophomore Brain Santana was able to score a run due a sacrifice fly ball hit by senior Alexander Batista.
The game then became a 1-0 stalemate entering the bottom of the third inning. Gables was feeling exuberant starting the inning with two quick singles from the first two pitches. Batista then hit crucial single to the outfield, bringing a Cavalier runner into home, which made the score two to zero in favor of Gables. Junior Jorge Miranda brought in another run until eventually the inning came to a close.
Much like the second inning, the fourth was one filled with runners left on base along and many pop flies. Entering the fifth inning, La Salle was in desperate need of momentum being down 3 to 0. Torres was worn down and La Salle knew this was their opportunity.
Kicking off the inning with three back to back singles, La Salle put the pressure on Gables with only one out. After allowing another single to bring in two runs, Torres was substituted for sophomore Alex Pritchett. Bringing the inning to an end, Pritchett let up a sacrifice fly resulting in a tie game.
From this point on the game grew tense; two innings were left of regular play and the game still being tied 3 to 3. With the help of multiple strikeouts from both sides and fortunate double plays, the game made its way into extra innings where La Salle would receive the first opportunity to score.
Pritchett remained on the mound for Gables, knowing the importance a win would mean to his team. Throwing a couple of ball, Pritchett pulled it together a caused two lineouts in back to back batters. The next batter, facing a a tougher test, Pritchett was led into a full count. Throwing a precise strike, the catcher unfortunately dropped the ball, but Gables still recorded the out.
Having an opportunity to win the match, Gables baseball knew what they had to do. With one out senior Micheal Alvarez was able to advance to first base. Pinch runner Frankie Suriel then stole second on a wild pitch, placing Gables in a scoring position. A few pitches later, Suriel stole third causing an uproar from the bench. Junior Carmine Morgan then hits a sacrifice fly to bring in the runner, winning the game for the Cavaliers with a final score of 4 to 3.
Celebrating their first win since beating South Miami High School, Gables knows their job is not finished yet as they continue working to truimph against future opponents using their newly acquired momentum. Now having a 3-5 record, the team hopes to improve to a .500 record in their upcoming games against Coral Reef High School and PineCrest taking place on March 19. and 20.
