Coming up short in a championship game is bound to leave a bad taste in a team’s mouth. Add in one-run loss in a game cut artificially short by Mother Nature? Pass the Listerine.
After claiming a regular-season South Florida Baseball Conference (SFBC) title in 2022, the Marathon Dolphins advanced all the way through their conference playoff bracket to make the team’s first appearance in the conference championship game since 2012. Springing out to an early 7-3 lead against Ransom Everglades, the Fins eventually trailed the Raiders by just one run in the top of the seventh inning before lightning strikes triggered multiple weather delays, eventually cementing the score as it stood.
In four days, the new-look 2023 squad will begin its quest for revenge.
“That taste of being so close to lifting up that trophy for the first time in our school’s history, that continues to stick out in all our returners’ minds,” said head coach Joey Gonzalez as his team prepares to take the field on Monday, Feb. 20 in their season opener against Everglades Prep Academy. “There’s so much more hunger for it this year.”
“(The 2022 season) didn’t end. It was actually the starting point, in my opinion, for what Marathon baseball is becoming and our identity from that day forward.”
This year’s squad, as always, will look a bit different as it looks to fill gaps left by graduating seniors – most notably slugger Delvin Solis and 2022 SFBC Player of the Year Ben Hiller, described by Gonzalez as “the heart and soul of our team” as he led the Fins in most offensive metrics last season.
But with several of the team’s core studs returning from last spring’s 13-12 squad, including pitching aces Dylan Ziels (3.5 ERA in 2022, with a fastball now clocking in around 85 mph) and Ryan Yablon (4.10 ERA), Gonzalez has every reason to believe another deep postseason run is on the table.
“We’re definitely not taking a step back,” he said. “My core group of guys have done nothing but commit themselves and they’ve gotten bigger, faster, stronger all across the board. … If anything, (the graduating seniors) gave our younger guys the opportunity to work even harder, and now we’ve got a true battle for our starting outfield spots.”
Gonzalez noted lofty expectations for his sophomore class, including twins Gavin and Gabe Leal – the team’s expected shortstop and catcher, respectively – along with projected second baseman Bryan Broche and first baseman Mason Thornton.
With a talented core of young players returning, the coach is thankful to have his entire staff – including his father and brother, Luis Gonzalez Sr. and Jr. – back by his side as he looks to follow up his SFBC Coach of the Year-caliber season. And though his team’s end goal was already set nearly 10 months ago – earn a 15-win season for the first time since before Gonzalez himself played for the Fins, and secure another postseason push – his staff is well aware that they still need to approach the spring one game at a time.
“I think the message as a coach to my staff and my players is, don’t get too far ahead of yourselves,” he said. “Live in the moment, play for the day, play for each other, and if we can do that every single day, I think the wins are gonna accumulate.
“We’ve got a group of guys that have literally been working their butts off, grinding on the field and in the weight room since we fell just short. … We’re out there putting in three-and-a-half-hour days and these kids stay for an extra hour after practice just to get more work in on their own. There’s no doubt with the heart that we have out there that we’re gonna be able to accomplish that.”
The Dolphins will open their season on Monday, Feb. 20 at 5 p.m. at home. From the entire staff at Keys Weekly, as always, Go Fins.
