MDC Athletics Won A State Title And Plenty Of Accolades This Season
The Miami Dade College Athletic Department recently wrapped up a season that included a state title in volleyball, a Southern Conference Coach of Year award in baseball and a Player of the Year accolade in softball.
Here is my recap of how the teams fared:
The Lady Sharks’ volleyball team finished the season with an 18-5 mark, their sixth straight state title and two wins at the national tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas to end the season with No. 6 ranking in the country.
Three freshmen played integral roles in the Lady Sharks’ success this year. Outside hitter Romina Cornelio led the team with 353 points, defensive specialist Kiaraliz Perez had the most digs with 425 and setter Luisa Melloni had 574 assists.
Sophomore outside hitters Janelly Ceopa and Erika Asencio contributed with 280 and 204.5 points respectively.
The Lady Sharks season suffered a major setback when Melloni missed the last six games after fracturing her left hand in a practice before the state tournament.
“Last season was not what I wanted,” Lady Sharks Head Coach Origenes “Kiko” Benoit said. “It doesn’t mean that we didn’t have a great season. We’re going to work harder to do better this coming season.”
The baseball team finished with a 39-19-1 mark and were one win short of qualifying for the national tournament in Grand Junction, Colorado.
Head coach Adrian Morales was selected as the Southern Conference Coach of the Year and right-hander Andy Rodriguez was the pitcher of the year. Rodriguez was 10-3 with a 2.45 earned run average with 121 strikeouts in 95.2 innings.
Rodriguez, second baseman Joseph Zamora and right fielder Wooyeoul Shin were Southern Conference first-team selections. Shin led the Sharks with 10 homeruns and Zamora had a team-best .369 batting average.
“I’m proud of the way the kids fought,” Morales said. “These kids gave me everything they had.”
The Lady Sharks softball team bounced back this season. Posting a 29-28 record after having an 18-21 mark the previous season.
Third baseman Raissa Bianco was selected as the Southern Conference Player of the Year. The sophomore led the team with 46 RBI, a .428 batting average and 21 doubles. She added 10 stolen bases, a .577 slugging percentage and two home runs.
Freshman pitcher Maria Victoria Navarro was 16-15 with a 2.56 earned run average and 108 strikeouts. Sophomore Lindsey Arana led the team with six home runs.
Despite a 10-17 record, the men’s basketball team showed a marked improvement under first-year coach Jorge Fernandez, winning seven more games than the previous season.
The Sharks’ offensive attack was led by sophomore Khalil Turner who earned Southern Conference first-team honors. The forward averaged 14.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game.
Sophomore D’Monte Brown led the team in scoring with 16.2 points per game. However, the Sharks biggest find this season was point guard Abdias “Speedy” Carcamo. Despite missing the majority of the year with an Achilles injury, he showed flashes during eight games, averaging 14 points and 3.8 assists.
The Lady Sharks women’s basketball team had the roughest season of all the MDC teams, finishing with a 6-23 record and an 0-9 mark in Southern Conference play.
They lost 15 of their last 17 games and never won back-to-back games all season. However, three players were featured on the Southern Conference first-team—Ahmari Young, Anija Payne and Angelina Hammond.
Young led the Lady Sharks in scoring with 12.8 points per game and Hammond was the leading rebounder with 10.6 per contest.
I look forward to this coming fall when the teams return to action. Until then, see you Sharks. It’s been fun.
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