Sharks Crowned State Champions—Move On To JUCO World Series For The First Time Since 2014

The Miami Dade College baseball team won its first State Championship since 2014 after defeating Santa Fe College, 10-5, at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida on Sunday.

With the win, the Sharks—who have a 36-16 record—qualified for the National Junior College Athletic Association National Tournament in Grand Junction, Colorado from May 29 to June 5. 

“It feels amazing. I am so happy for my staff, the student-athletes and for the entire MDC family,” said Sharks’ Head Coach Adrian Morales, who won back-to-back Southern Conference Championships as a player at MDC in 2008 and 2009. “I am grateful and honored to be leading this tough group of young men for my alma mater.”

In the championship game, the Sharks took an early 5-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. They started the scoring after third baseman Sujel Arias-Auzon hit a double to right-center field that brought in outfielder David Crawford and second baseman Erick Orbeta. 

Later in that inning, catcher Juan Gonzalez hit a single to left-center to bring in Arias-Auzon. The next batter, outfielder Jose Crisostomo Bock, hit a double that moved Gonzalez to third base. Then, they took advantage of two pitching errors by Santa Fe: Gonzalez scored on a wild pitch and Bock scored on a passed ball. 

The Saints were hitless through the first four innings, however, they scored three runs in the top of the fifth to make it 5-3. They added two more runs in the sixth and seventh innings via solo home runs.

But the Sharks never lost their lead. Left fielder David Pereira scored in the bottom of the sixth inning after Orbeta hit a line drive to right field. In the bottom of the eighth, the Sharks loaded the bases and Crawford hit a sacrifice fly to bring in shortstop Raphy Almanzar-Rosario. 

Designated hitter Henry Wallen then hit a single up the middle that brought Orbeta and Pereira in. Finally, catcher Nicolas Pitelli—who replaced Gonzalez after he was ejected in the fifth inning for arguing a strikeout—singled to left-center to bring in Arias-Auzon, who had reached base on a walk.

Miami Dade College played strong throughout the five-day tournament.

The Sharks started off with a 9-6 victory over sixth-ranked Polk State College on May 5. In that game, Arias-Auzon hit a grand slam in the bottom of the fourth inning. Orbeta also homered in the fifth.

In the next round, the Sharks beat fourth-ranked Pensacola State College 9-5 in a game that ended at around 1:50 a.m. The game ran so late that the stadium’s sprinkler system turned on for a few minutes in the middle of the seventh inning. 

On May 7, the third-ranked Sharks faced fifth-ranked Northwest Florida State College, who had scored 23 runs in their first two games. Broadcasters called it one of the best games of the tournament. Pitelli, a backup catcher who had only played in 19 games, hit two solo home runs and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the tenth inning to help the Sharks win 4-3.

The following day, MDC was walloped, 11-1, by second-ranked Santa Fe College in a game that ended after five innings because of the mercy rule (the game is called if a team is down by 10 runs after the fifth inning). But since it was a double-elimination tournament, the Sharks advanced to the championship game. 

After the tournament, five MDC players were named to the All-Tournament team: Orbeta (nine hits, six RBI, six runs, three doubles and one home run in 19 at-bats); Arias-Auzon, (six RBI and four 2B in 18 AB); Crawford (six hits, three RBI, and a .316 batting average in 19 AB), Bock (five hits and four runs in 19 AB); and pitcher Jose Pichardo (11 strikeouts, 0.00 ERA, in 10 innings pitched). 

Orbeta also received the Bob Zelinski Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament Award and Sharks’ Head Coach Adrian Morales received the FCSAA Coach of the Year award. 

“We told our players before the tournament: the team who plays clean, errorless baseball, the team who can weather any storm, the team who is mentally the toughest will win the tournament,” Morales said. “Our defense, pitching, timely hitting was the best we’ve seen all year. We played our best baseball when we needed to. Clutch group.”