Sharks Retool For 2022-23 Baseball Season
Miami Dade College’s baseball team had a successful run last year. The team featured the Southern Conference coach of the year, won 39 games and fell one victory short of qualifying for the National Tournament.
After the season, two of their pitchers signed professional contracts. William Silva, a relief pitcher was drafted in the 15th round by the Atlanta Braves, and Andy Rodriguez, a starter, signed a free-agent minor league contract with the Texas Rangers.
Now the team has retooled its roster and started the 2022-23 season in late January with a roster that features the son of Major League Baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz—D’Angelo— and a right-handed pitcher, Julian Mlodzinski, whose brother—Carmen Mlodzinski— was a first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020.
“We’re counting on everybody to help us win,” said Sharks Head Coach Adrian Morales. “It takes a whole team to win.”
The Sharks have a 9-6-1 record this season and have been prolific offensively, averaging more than seven runs a game including five victories where they scored more than 10 runs.
Key to the Sharks success this season will be second year players such as shortstop/outfielder Jose Hernandez, second baseman Joseph Zamora and outfielders Max Galvin and Wooyeoul Shin.
Zamora led last year’s squad with a .369 batting average and he added 42 RBI and five home runs. Hernandez had nine home runs, 33 RBI and he posted a .252 batting average. Shin had a .316 batting average, nine home runs and 36 RBI. Galvin added 24 RBI and a .293 batting average.
Here are some of the top freshman on this year’s team:
Ortiz, is a six-foot-one-inch third baseman/right fielder, who had a .362 batting average in his senior year of high school at Westminster Christian School. He has a .327 batting average and a team leading 15 RBI this season.
“To get ready for the season [we] just wanna keep working hard and stay in the same routine,” Ortiz said. “I think I’m a good hitter and I have a good IQ on the field.”
Mlodzinski, a six-foot-three-inch right-handed starting pitcher, is expected to help the Sharks on the mound. He is a 2022 graduate of Hilton Head Island High School in South Carolina who has two wins in five appearances this season while boasting a 4.11 earned run average with 18 strikeouts in 15.1 innings.
Right-handed pitchers, Ethan Perez and Julian Hernandez, and left-handed pitchers—Ervis Solis and Horacio Cruz—are expected to bolster the pitching staff.
Other notable newcomers include catchers Adrian Salas from Puerto Rico and Geremy Garcia from the Dominican Republic and outfielders Matthew Mateo from Orlando and Jose Andara from Venezuela.
“We have a lot of talent, we have good hitting and good pitching,” Zamora said. “We just need to work on doing stuff right at the right time.”
The Sharks next game is on the road at the John Tindall Classic in Palatka, Florida against East Georgia College on Feb. 10 at 4 p.m.
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