Everglades Falls 2-1 In 10-Inning Battle With Miami
The Gators Yabel Arzano celebrates a big base hit during the fourth inning, which pushed the lead runner to third base.
Despite all the pain and anguish of such a tough and close loss, Everglades Manager Oddibe McDowell was overcome with one emotion that meant the most. That emotion was pride.
The Gators left it all on the field and gave everything they had in their Class 8A regional quarterfinal against Miami High. Yet in the end the team was left reeling from a tough defeat, as the Stingarees walked off to a 2-1 victory in the bottom of the 10th inning of the game played at historic Flamingo Park in Miami Beach.
It was the first time in school history that Everglades ever played in a regional playoff game, and the Gators (8-16) showed the same heart and grit that had taken them on their historic run. Even with the anguish of seeing that run come to an end, Coach McDowell was overcome with pride at just how his guys had taken things this far.
“I have a good ball club and a good group of guys,” McDowell said. “You know we started out very, very slow. I got to see them battle back as the second half of the season started. They were playing well and executing and doing things that they are capable of doing and being more consistent. Just to see them grind through, that’s what makes champions. They battled all year.”
Everglades struggled at the onset of the year, losing the majority of its games and falling into a hole both overall and in its district. Yet the coaches and players persevered and continued to believe in what they were capable of doing. As Assistant Coach Jorge Hernandez summed up best, the club split the season into two ten-game sets. Once the Gators got into that second set they began to play their best baseball ever, and all the pieces began to fall into place.
Dylan O’Connell drives in Michael Van Ryn in the fourth.
That big turnaround culminated in a big upset victory over West Broward in the district semifinals, which stamped the team’s first regional playoff berth.
“They could have easily thrown in the towel and started looking towards next season by halfway through this season,” McDowell said. “We were 1-7, or 1-8, something crazy like that. But they battled and came together and they’ve been playing well. We’ve been on the other end of winning a ballgame like this, 3-2 against West Broward in the districts, and to come in here and get this far and play that well and come up short by not getting a key hit here is real tough. It’s a real tough, tough loss here. We pitched the ball well and we played great defense; we just didn’t get the timely hit, and that’s difficult, just a difficult way to lose the ballgame.”
The Gators were held to just three hits in the tight pitcher’s duel between Stingarees starter Edgar Aparicio and their own ace, Raul Quesada. Even despite putting runners on in each of the final three frames, the team was unable to get that one big swing that may have written a different ending to the epic battle.
Everglades capitalized to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Michael Van Ryn plunked a single into shallow right field to lead off the inning, and Yabel Arzano followed with a single to centerfield to put runners on the corners. An infield groundout off the bat of Dylan O’Connell pushed Van Ryn home for the Gators lone score of the contest.
O’Connell also had their only other hit, a double in the second inning.
Gators starter Raul Quesada struck out 12 in eight strong innings on the mound.
The slim lead was nearly enough to hold up, thanks to the outstanding pitching from Quesada. The young right-hander proved up to the task of pitching in such a big moment, tossing eight innings and allowing just one earned run. Quesada allowed just four hits and did not issue any walks, and he recorded 12 strikeouts. He also struck out the side swinging in the second, the first of four 1-2-3 innings.
Quesada is one of many key players who will return next season looking to build off their historic run this year and take the club beyond that accomplishment. Even as tough as it is for McDowell and the other coaches to say goodbye to this special group of players, they take comfort in knowing that many of them will be coming back, and returning even hungrier then ever.
“You hate for it to end because they’ve been playing well, but when you look at what’s coming back and what’s ahead it is very, very promising,” McDowell said. “That should excite the guys. Even though it’s difficult to lose this ballgame, knowing what is coming back and looking ahead for next year is a big plus. We’ve got some great arms and some great talent, and a good nucleus of the kids is coming back. So hopefully we can continue to build on that and move forward, and spring forward to next go even farther next year.”
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