Douglas Wears Down Taravella, Takes Title
Logan Costanzo pitched well for Taravella against Douglas.
The Stoneman Douglas baseball team was not necessarily a sleeping giant, but they did wake up. After spotting the Taravella Trojans a two-run lead, the Eagles patiently worked their way to a 7-4 victory for the District 8A-11 title on Friday afternoon.
Buoyed by a four-run fifth inning, the Eagles captured the lead and rode that to their third district title in a row. Down 3-1, Douglas started the fifth with Jordan Hill being hit by a pitch. After a wild pitch sent Hill to second, Yorvis Torrealba drove a 2-2 pitch down the left field line for a double to score a run. After a fielder’s choice caught Torrealba at third, Dominic DiCaprio singled to left field.
With runners on first and second, senior Devin Conn drove a shot 353 feet to the wall in left-center field. Conn hustled all the way to third, coming away with a two-run triple. This put the Eagles ahead 4-3, and a single to left field by Brady Norris brought Conn home and moved the Eagles two runs ahead. Once Douglas took the lead, the team did not let it go.
“I was looking to drive one with two guys on,” Conn spoke about his big at bat. “These are the situations we work on in practice; you want to drive one through the middle. I did and it carried well out to the wall.”
The team’s fortitude did not come as a surprise to Douglas Manager Todd Fitz-Gerald.
“We are a veteran team,” Fitz-Gerald explained. “We did not panic when we were down early. We hung in there. Fortunately, we got some breaks and we took advantage of them.”
Douglas (21-4) scored two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Blake Bottomley was hit by a pitch, and Luis Acevedo came in to run for him. Jesus Luzardo followed with a single to right and Matt Chabarek came in to run for him. Both runners were moved forward by an excellent sacrifice bunt by Hill. A pretty squeeze bunt by Pemron Burrows brought Acevedo in to score, and a wild pitch brought Chabarek in for Douglas’s seventh and final run.
“They are a good team,” Taravella Manager Alan Clark pointed out. “We had the advantage and we tried to keep it. They had a few breaks and, like good teams, they used the breaks to their advantage.”
Yorvis Torrealba had two hits and two RBI for Douglas in the Title game.
Taravella started quickly in this district final. After leadoff hitter Henry Matias was hit by a pitch, Eddie Ayala had a base hit to right and Gavin Robinson brought Matias in with a single. Ayala was thrown out at third base, but Robinson scored the second Trojan run on a base hit to right field by Manny Pantaleon. Taravella added a run in the third inning on an error.
But it was all Douglas from there.
“It feels great to be the winners. This is our three-peat,” Torrealba stated. “Hopefully we will continue and go to the states. That is our goal. We knew we were going to win. We did not give up. We kept everything positive in the dugout.”
Logan Costanzo started for Taravella (15-9) and pitched well. He went four innings, leaving in the fifth after hitting the leadoff batter. He gave up two runs on two hits and struck out one batter. Gavin Robinson had two hits, including a solo home run in the seventh inning. He scored twice and had two RBIs.
Senior pitcher Ricky Miranda got the win for Douglas. After weathering a tough first inning, he bore down and kept the Eagles within striking distance. Miranda went five innings, giving up three runs, two of them earned. He struck out two batters and walked two. Torrealba had two hits and two RBIs for the Eagles.
Both teams continue to the regional playoffs next week with pitching staffs in order and sights set on victory.
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