It’s baseball season in the Keys, and last week, all three teams started their quests for postseason hardware the right way.
In their home opener Feb. 13, Key West’s Donovan Theiry effectively shut down the ABF Academy (Homestead) offense, striking out 12 of the 13 batters he faced. Thiery was surgical on the mound, tossing just 58 pitches in four innings of work. Christian Koppal and Auggy Davila held down the fort for the rest of the night, and despite being outhit 6-3, the Conchs pulled off a 5-2 win over the Bandits. Kade Maltz doubled, while Thiery and Roman Garcia each added a base hit in the team’s first official win of the season.
The following night, the Conchs faced the other ABF Academy, and the Hialeah version proved a bit more challenging. Key West struck first, stringing together a pair of hits in the first inning to get on the board. The Cowboys answered back with two of their own in the top of the second. The Conchs then added four in the third inning and two in the fourth to pull ahead 7-2. The Cowboys chipped away at that lead, but ran out of innings to exact their comeback.
Key West’s bats were steady, churning out 11 hits with three from Garcia, a pair of doubles from Darreld Tremino and a solo home run off the bat of Davila. Maltz earned the win on the mound, tossing four innings before Cruz Holmes, Beau Bender and Davila chipped in one inning of work apiece to close out the 7-6 win.
Marathon opened the season with a two-game road trip, starting with a Feb. 9 matchup with Miami Country Day. The Dolphins overpowered the Spartans with seven hits over five innings in a resounding 12-0 win.
Eighth-grader Reef Rella started on the mound for the Fins, spanning three innings with five strikeouts and six walks. Roco Piscetello finished out the final two innings. The Dolphins held the Spartans to a single hit defensively while pouring on the runs themselves. Gabriele Cirina drove in five runs with three hits, one of which was a grand slam home run in the fifth inning. The other two were doubles. Curren Nicolay doubled while Piscetello and Jason Stubblefield each singled. Massimo Quargnali was finicky at the plate, drawing four walks to boost his on-base percentage.
The following evening, the Fins headed to Somerset Silver Palms to take on the Stallions. The Fins matched their opponent run-for-run until inning three, when Silver Palms pulled ahead. The Dolphins battled back and took the lead in the fourth then the Stallions tied it up in the sixth. The ever-patient Fins found a crack in the Stallion defense in the top of the seventh, when eighth-grader Reef Rella hit a solid double followed by a Cirina walk to place runners on first and second.
Up next were Miles Murphy and Bradley Buigas, a pair of eighth-graders whose plate presence is far beyond their age. Buigas was already 3-for-3 on the night and Murphy had one hit and an on-base percentage well above .500. But Silver Palms’ field was without lights, and the umpire called the game a tie right then and there, forcing the Fins to settle for a tie with a team which has become quite a rival in recent seasons.
Cirina started on the mound, striking out six and walking three in two-and-one-third innings. Piscetello and Dylan Williams chipped in for the tie. In addition to Rella, Buigas and Murphy’s hits, Williams singled, Piscetello hit a triple and two singles, Cirina singled and Stubblefield hit a bomb over the left field fence for a solo home run. In all, the Fins racked up 11 hits to the Stallions’ eight.
The Fins exacted their revenge on the Stallions on Feb. 13, when Silver Palms paid a visit for Marathon’s home opener. The game was scoreless until the third inning, when Williams went for a walk with two outs against the Fins. Piscetello singled, then Jack Chapman and Stubblefield drew walks to score one run.
Inning four started with a pair of walks, then a Bradley Buigas bunt scored what would be the final run of the game.
Williams was effective on the mound, striking out 11, walking three and allowing three hits in six and two-thirds innings. Piscetello faced a single batter, whose flyout ended the game in a 2-0 win for the Dolphins.
Coral Shores opened their season with a win against Terra Environmental Feb. 9 in a 2-1 showdown that highlighted dialed-in pitching from senior Riley O’Berry. O’Berry threw six innings, striking out 10 batters with no walks and allowing five hits with just a single run scoring. Glade Harrelson closed out the final inning for the Hurricanes.
O’Berry doubled while Keller Blackburn and Mailon Aguila singled. A stingy Terra pitching staff gave up just three hits and no walks, but Maykol Bonito took two bases the hard way. After being hit by pitches twice, Bonito scored one of the Hurricane runs to help the ’Canes come away with their first win of the season.
The following night, the Hurricanes were swept away by the Buccaneers of South Dade High. The ’Canes were perfect in the field, but the Bucs’ bats overwhelmed the Hurricanes. Keller Blackburn had the lone hit against South Dade in the 15-0 three-inning rout.
Photos by Rocky Gonet and Tracy McDonald
