Chipola College Ends Sharks’ Baseball Season
The Miami Dade College baseball season came to an abrupt end after they lost the first two games of the Marianna Regional versus Chipola College.
During the series, the Sharks had leads mid-way through both games— 5-3 in the top of the fifth inning of the first game and 5-0 in the bottom of the fourth of the second game—before losing.
Chipola won 14-5 on May 3 and 11-5 on May 4.
“We fought until the end regardless of who was in front of us,” said sophomore catcher Geremy Garcia. “We fell short, but that’s part of baseball and I assure you that the Sharks coming back next year will cover our backs and bring that ring back.”
Standout performers for the Sharks during the series were Garcia and right fielder Dean Guzman, who each had a homerun and two RBI in the series, and third baseman D’Angelo Ortiz, who collected three RBI.
The pitching staff had a rough two-game stretch, allowing 21 earned runs in 16 innings while walking 19 batters.
During the season, the Sharks had a 28-26 overall record under first-year head coach Lazaro Llanes, who replaced Adrian Morales after he took the head coaching gig at Nova Southeastern University.
The team, which featured 12 freshmen, struggled at the start of the season, losing seven of their first eight games, posting a 9-13 mark through February. But the team rebounded in March, finishing with a 11-6 record for the month.
The Sharks were 8-8 in April and May but they stumbled to the finish line, losing four of their last five games including the two to Chipola College in the regional series.
“We had a few returners, but the majority of the players were new to the program,” Llanes said. “Once we started to believe in each other, we started playing much better and we grew as a team after that.”
Offensive leaders for the Sharks this season were: Garcia, who led the team with 52 RBI while adding seven home runs, freshman Michael Petite, who topped the team in home runs with nine, and sophomore D’Angelo Ortiz, who was the batting average champion with a .377 mark.
Freshmen Carlos Jacome and Maikel Perez each contributed five home runs.
On the mound, right-hander Juan Miguel Fernandez boasted a 9-3 record. The sophomore also led the team in strikeouts with 83. That was 35 more than the pitcher with the second most K’s.
“Although we fell short, we had the makeup of a championship team, but that’s just baseball,” said freshman catcher Santiago Carriles-Alvarado. “I believe this is a crucial part to the success of next year’s team.”
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