At this point, you may as well take the number “8” next to their team name in the brackets and toss it in the trash. That’s because the Miami Springs Golden Hawks, the defending Class 3A state champions and a team only a shell of itself after graduating 12 seniors off last year’s team have picked a perfect time to be playing their best baseball. After barely even making the playoffs as a No. 8 seed, they followed up last week’s 7-2 knockout punch of No. 1 St. Brendan with a 7-2 game two victory over No. 4 iMater Charter in a Region 4-3A Best-of-3 regional semifinal on Saturday morning at Walker Park in Hialeah. The win completed a two-game series sweep and, with the Hawks having swept all three of their Best-of-3 regional playoff series a year ago, extended Springs’ postseason winning streak to 11 straight.
Miami Springs (17-10-1) advances to a Best-of-3 Region 4-3A final against No. 3 Gulliver Prep. next weekend after the Raiders knocked off No. 2 Monsignor Pace 7-4 in a decisive Game 3 on Saturday afternoon. Game 1 is scheduled for Friday, May 8 at 3:30 p.m. at Gulliver with Games 2 and 3 (if necessary) on Saturday afternoon. Springs’ regional semifinal win also marks the first time since the state went to a seeding system five years ago that a No. 8 seed in Region 4 has advanced to a regional final.
“We talked about it last week before we traveled to St. Brendan that unlike most regions, there is not a lot of separation between all eight teams in this one and that anybody could come out of here no matter what you are seeded and that’s proving to bear out,” said Springs head coach Corey Estrada. “We knew after last season, losing 12 seniors off that state championship team that we were going to suffer from some ups and downs throughout the season and that it was going to be a growing process for us.
“We kept telling our boys to keep grinding and working and that we would find a way to be in it at the end and here we are headed for the regional finals. What’s probably helped us as well is that we still have a few of the kids in our dugout left over from that state run last year and these were the guys that kind of spoke up at the end of the regular season to lead the younger ones.”
One of those veterans that spoke up was junior center fielder Taylor Ancheta. It was 11 months ago that Ancheta stepped up to the plate and hit the biggest home run in program history, a solo shot against Santa Rosa Beach South Walton in the state title game that proved to be the difference in a 2-1 victory. On Saturday morning, he showed his vetran leadership when he stepped up with two on and two out and the game tied 2-2 in the top of the second and blasted a three-run shot over the right field fence that proved to be the difference in the game. With the Hawks comfortably ahead in the final inning, he then took off running on a long shot to deep center and reached up over his shoulder for a Willie Mays style catch to end the game.
“We knew we were starting to really kick it into gear towards the end of the season and that’s what you want to be doing at this time of year, playing your best baseball,” said Ancheta who now has five home runs this season along with a .372 battling average and 26 RBIs. “This is a different team right now. When the postseason starts, it’s a clean slate for everybody. I think we have enough to make it happen again this year. I knew we had this in us. We’re ready to keep winning next weekend.”
The Hawks set themselves up for the game-clinching Saturday victory with a nail biting 6-5 win in Game 1 on Friday afternoon. The hero on this day was first baseman/pitcher Adrian Henriquez. After Springs starting pitcher Franco Enriquez battled iMater ace Luis Hernandez to a 1-1 tie through six innings, the game was decided in the seventh. After Hernandez reached his 105 max pitch count, Alexey Fuentes came in in relief and struggled. With the bases loaded and two outs, he forced in the go-ahead run for the Hawks when he walked Eisler Piloto. Henriquez then stepped up and blasted a towering drive over the left field fence for a grand slam home run and 6-1 lead.
It turned out the Hawks needed every single one of those runs as the Knights (16-8) put on a furious rally in the bottom of the inning. Damian Villabrille relieved Enriquez in the sixth and got through that inning but, after recording the first out in the seventh, yielded a base hit and a walk. Estrada then made a change on the mound and brought in Mattheu Palacios but iMater followed with three more hits and a walk to cut the Springs lead to 6-5. With the tying run at second, Palacios managed to strike out Jayden Castillo to end the game. Michael Maiquez took the mound for Springs on Saturday and, after a rocky first inning in which he gave up two runs as iMater took a 2-1 lead, he settled down after that and was brilliant the rest of the way only giving up three hits and allowing just one Knight baserunner to reach second.
With the game still at 5-2 in the sixth, the Hawks went long ball one last time when Kristopher Mederos came to the plate and blasted a deep high drive to left field. With a helping wind behind it, the ball carried over the fence for a two-run shot to make it 7-2 and the big Hawks crowd that had made the short trip up from Miami Springs began an early celebration. “I’m just really proud of the boys,” said Estrada. “They hung in there all season long and continued to get better. They deserve this moment and now we hope to carry this momentum down to Gulliver next weekend.”
