Key West’s quest for a 12th state championship ended on April 29 after a two-game slide against American Heritage High School. In game one, the Conchs held their own against the Patriots until a fourth-inning grand slam put the win too far out of reach.
Kade Maltz batted in the lone Conch run off a base hit. Auggy Davila, Xavier Perez, Sam Holland and Nelson Ong each added a hit to the team total. Vinny Moline pitched four innings for Key West, giving up five runs on five hits. Moline struck out five Patriots and walked seven more in the loss.
The following night, Key West was back in Miami for game two, hoping to tie up the series and force a third game, which would have been at Rex Weech Field. Conch fans did not get the chance to see their boys at home again, however, with a 9-5 loss ending Key West’s season.
Trailing 3-0 in the top of the second, Sam Holland hit a solo homer to right field to put the Conchs on the board. Kade Maltz sent a shot to left field in inning five to add another run for Key West. However, the Patriots unloaded a dozen hits, including four homers, against the Conchs, and a seventh-inning three-run rally came too late for Key West to close the gap.
The 9-5 loss ended the Conchs’ season with a 20-12 record. Maltz’s home run was one of two hits for the freshman. His second was a double. Davila doubled, Roman Garcia added a hit and two RBIs and Nelson Ong singled. Four Conchs saw work on the mound, including Kasey Kasper, Jon Carlos Lampas-Gormley, Maltz and Davila.
MARATHON
After upsetting Fort Meade to win the FHSAA 1A Rural District Championship, Marathon earned a pair of home rematches with the Miners April 28 and 29. The home-field advantage was not enough to boost the Fins over Fort Meade, which traveled to the Keys with payback in mind.
In game one, Marathon got off to an early lead after senior Leo Mendez laid down a sacrifice bunt to score one run. That would be the Dolphins’ only score of the game, though, and a stingy Fort Meade pitcher held the Fins to just three hits, one each from Roco Piscetello, Gavin Leal and Bryan Broche. A pair of errors did not help the Fins in what became a 4-1 loss.
Mason Thornton struck out eight over six and one-third innings, walked two and gave up two hits and three runs before handing the ball to Dylan Williams for the final batters.
Game two brought renewed hope and electric energy to the Dolphins’ dugout, but the Miners came out swinging, pounded Marathon with a six-run offensive showing in the first inning and never let up. The outcome, a 15-1 five-frame game, was not what the Fins had hoped for, ending their run toward a state title. The team amassed a respectable six hits, with Gabe and Gavin Leal leading the charge with two each, but Fort Meade hammered 17 hits to keep the pressure on. Marathon finished their historic season with 18 wins, 11 losses, a conference championship and a district championship in their first year competing in their new division.
Photos by SEAN WESTERBAND/Keys Weekly
