Sharks’ Season Ends With Two Tough Losses At National Tournament
The Miami Dade College baseball team had a solid campaign this year. The Sharks won the Southern Conference title in late April and the Florida College System Activities Association State Tournament in May.
They hoped to continue their run at the National Junior College Athletic Association National Tournament at the Sam Suplizio Field in Grand Junction, Colorado. Unfortunately, their dreams were cut short.
The Sharks were eliminated from the ten-team, double-elimination tournament after losing 11-3 to San Jacinto College on Saturday and 11-1 to Walters State Community College the next day.
“I think we went in with the same mentality we [had since] day one, that we’re gonna go out and win,” said Sharks’ left-fielder David Pereira, who was originally a catcher at the start of the season. “But, you know, mistakes happen in baseball and you can’t blame one person for anything that happened in that game.”
The Sharks’ first loss of the tournament came at the hands of fourth-ranked and five-time JUCO World Series Champion San Jacinto College from Pasadena, Texas.
The game was scoreless through the first three innings, but the Gators took the lead in the fourth after scoring two runs on four consecutive hits.
Sharks’ second baseman Erick Orbeta responded in the top of the fifth inning with an RBI single to bring in Austin Pollak, who hit a double with one out. However, the Gators extended their lead in the sixth inning with a two-run homer off Jose Pichardo.
In the seventh inning, Sharks’ first baseman Matt Krtausch had a leadoff walk and shortstop Raphy Almanzar-Rosario hit a home run to left field to make the score 4-3 and bring MDC within one. The Sharks had a chance to tie the game in the eighth when outfielder David Crawford was at third base with one out, but designated hitter Henry Wallen and right-fielder Jose Crisostomo-Bock struck out.
The Gators ended the game, due to mercy rule, in the bottom half of the eight inning after scoring seven runs to make the final score 11-3.
“The goal was to keep the game close so that we could maybe tie it in the next inning,” said Almanzar-Rosario. “Unfortunately, in that inning things [got] out of hand.”
On Sunday, the Sharks faced Walters State Community College, a team from Morristown, Tennessee, that had a 61-6 record and led the nation in runs (685), hits (747), home runs (138) and RBI (639).
Miami Dade took the lead in the second inning with a sacrifice fly from Pereira to bring in Krtausch. The Senators tied the game with an RBI single to center field in the bottom of the inning.
Walters State went ahead in the third inning after right fielder Nick Block hit a double with runners at first and second with two outs to bring in a run. Then, a throwing error by third baseman Sujel Arias-Auzon brought in two more runs. The Senators extended their lead to 6-1 in the fourth.
The fifth inning was a nightmare for MDC.
Sharks’ pitcher Anthony Figueroa struck out the first batter of the inning, but in the next at-bat, right fielder Jose Crisostomo Bock missed a routine fly ball that allowed the runner to reach second. The next batter reached first base with a bunt before Caleb McNeely doubled to left-center to make the score 8-1.
The Sharks committed three more errors that inning that contributed to the final three runs, making the score 11-1 and forcing the game to be stopped due to the mercy rule.
But the team’s defense wasn’t the only thing not working for MDC during the tournament. The Sharks, who finished the season with a 36-19 record, only scored four runs during two games and had a .196 team batting average.
“Regardless of how the tournament went, we’re still the best team in Florida,” Pereira said. “This team has taught me a lot over this entire year and the commitment that these guys have put in surely paid off and it showed that we are [set] on making something great happen.”
