Miami Sunset baseball walks off St. Brendan to reach first regional final in a decade
Miami Sunset spent the past two years just trying to figure out how to win a baseball game.
A year later, the Knights need just one win to make it to state for the first time.
Sunset’s remarkable turnaround season hit another high on Friday afternoon when the Knights rallied from a four-run deficit to beat St. Brendan 7-5 in a Region 4-4A semifinal at Raul Ibanez Field.
Senior center fielder Andres “Pupi” Gonzalez’s two-run walk-off home run over the left field fence lifted the Knights (16-8) to their first regional finals appearance since 2013 and second all-time for the school.
Gonzalez’s blast followed a game-tying single by senior catcher Nicholas Rodriguez to score junior shortstop Angel Santiago, who doubled to center with one out to start the rally.
Rodriguez, a USF commit, recently returned to action after suffering a torn labrum early in the season after starting pitcher Daniel Perruc filled in behind the plate during his absence.
“We just said to each other that it wasn’t over, not until the last out,” Gonzalez said. “We just continue to surprise people and show them what we got.”
Sunset, the No. 6 seed in the region which was coming off a road upset of No 3 seed Jensen Beach, will next have to travel to top-seeded Key West (22-5) to face the Conchs on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.
The Knights, who lost 13-0 to Key West in their district final on May 4, improved to 11-1 at their home field this season.
And all of it has come a season after going a combined 1-31 over the previous two seasons.
“We really focus on the things we can control,” Sunset coach Julio Mendoza said. “They’re prepared for this moment and focused so much. They earned it. The glory goes to these kids. They’ve bought in and really prepared to get us where we wanted to be.”
St. Brendan (11-9), which was aiming to also make what would have been its first appearance in a regional final since 2013, scored four runs in the top of the fourth to take a 5-1 lead. Third baseman Alex Perez lined a ball back to the mound, bouncing it off the rubber and high into the air, and allowing Luis Suarez to score from third. Suarez led off the inning with a triple before Sunset starter Chino Rivera nearly escaped the jam by retiring the next two batters. But Rivera walked catcher Rafael Rizo before Perez’s single. After another walk, first baseman Lucas Fernandez cleared the bases with a double.
The Knights answered with a run in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Johan Hidalgo and Daniel Reyes belted a two-run homer to left center to cut the deficit to 5-4 in the sixth.
“We always say to the kids to ‘hold the vision and trust the process,’” Mendoza said. “That gave us the grit we needed to win these last two games.”
▪ Region 4-3A semifinal - Gulliver 4, Westminster Christian 2: The Raiders (18-10) avenged a loss last week in the district finals against the Warriors (18-8-1) to advance to their first regional final since 2015 - the last time they made it to the state final four.
Brixton Lofgren delivered a terrific start, going the distance and striking out 11. Jason Marcos went 3 for 4 with an RBI while Jacob Lombard went 1 for 2 with a double and an RBI. George Lombard walked three times and scored a run.
Gulliver will next travel to Fort Lauderdale to take on Calvary Christian on Tuesday afternoon in the Region 4-3A final.
MORE SCORES
▪ Region 4-5A semifinals: American Heritage 3, Pembroke Pines Charter 2; Archbishop McCarthy 4, Riviera Beach Suncoast 1.
▪ Region 4-4A semifinal: Key West 7, Miami Springs 2
▪ Region 4-3A semifinal: Calvary Christian 7, Monsignor Pace 1
▪ Region 4-2A semifinals: Miami Christian 6, True North 1; Westminster Academy 10, Fort Pierce John Carroll 0.
