Ranked the top team in Miami-Dade County baseball and No. 5 in the state, winning the Hall of Fame Classic Tournament and riding a 16 game winning streak, Barbara Goleman High players are not satisfied with the team’s regular-season success.
At 19-2 and playing in the GMAC tournament this week and the subsequent division postseason, the team’s goal of winning the district playoff championship is unpretentious compared to winning the state title.
Anything less would be a big disappointment for a team that has the best hitting and pitching staff in the county, and demonstrated they can win games in the clutch.
The Gators’ last loss was against Archbishop McCarthy on February 26, a walk-off single, and since then, the team has never looked back.
“The 8-7 loss to McCarthy showed us that we can play our best baseball,” said pitcher Michael Pelaez, who is 7-0 and recorded a 1.30 ERA. “After that, we developed great chemistry among the players and coaches. We are playing like a family.”
Pelaez said the team is not content with the success until they win the state championship.
“We are not satisfied with 19-2 because we want to go far,” he said. “We are trying to win it all this year.”
The Gators’ first task in reaching the state championship game is winning the district playoff championship.
In the first round, Goleman faces Norland High, a team the Gators beat twice during the regular season but the postseason might be a different story.
“It’s hard to beat a tough team three times in one season,” said Gators head coach Jose Lopez. “We have to rely on more execution to win.”
While competing in the GMAC, Lopez said his team is not overlooking their opponents because the tune-up for the playoffs is significant as well.
“We are talking it one day at a time,” he said. “We are concentrating on the tournament and not overlooking every team just because we are having a great season.”
The 2015 Gators team is quite impressive, according to local and state high-school sports pundits.
Besides Pelaez's perfect record and the best ERA in the country, four players are among the Top 50 players in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, including short stop Eric Delgado, who is the No. 2 hitter in the county with a .550 batting average.
Infielder Justin Darreneche is among the top scorers and base stealers in Miami-Dade County.
In the Gators’ regular-season finale against Westland Hialeah, Darreneche, the leadoff hitter, went two-for-four, scored two runs and stole three bases.
“It feels good to be on a winning team,” he said. “Everyone is happy for now but our big goal is winning the state title.”
Lopez said Darreneche is the heart of the team.
“He doesn’t have much power but he has pitchers on the mound worried,” Lopez said.
Kevin Perez plays two positions, pitcher and catcher, but he hasn’t thrown in some games because the team wants him healthy and well rested for the postseason.
Perez is 4-1 with a 1.56 ERA.
“We are trying to keep him healthy for the playoffs,” Lopez said.
The Gators proved they can beat the best teams in Florida and the Midwest.
Goleman recently won the Hall of Fame Classic Tournament in Pompano Beach by beating Broward’s No. 3 state ranked Stoneman Douglas and Colorado’s Fairview High School, which is the No. 6 team in the nation.
The Gators won the tournament with an undefeated record.
“Those were some outstanding guys we beat,” Lopez said.