Sharks Start Strong Despite Injuries To Pitching Staff
Despite having their pitching staff decimated by injury, the Miami Dade College baseball team has gotten off to a strong start (17-8 overall and 6-2 in the Southern Conference).
“We started 1-3. We were bad, then we slowly inched back and we’ve gotten better as a team,” said Head Baseball Coach Danny Price. “We had some injuries that happened to us.”
The team struggled at the start of the season after right handed pitchers Ernesto Pino and Yadiel Fonseca were lost for the remainder of the season after suffering injuries. Pino had Tommy John surgery to his right elbow and Fonseca will soon have surgery on his left knee after dislocating it.
“Those things happen, but I think they’ve taken on things very well. We have to pick one another up,” Price said. “The pitching coach is doing a great job.”
The Sharks rebounded by playing well at home. They are 10-3 on their home field, which bodes well given that they will play five of their next seven games at home.
A trio of freshman pitchers, Nelson Alvarez, Jason Grana and Joshua Lopez, all have two wins for the Sharks this year.
“So far, I think what we’ve done best as a team is pitching and defense. I wouldn’t really say we’ve lacked hitting; I think we just haven’t reached our full hitting capability as a team yet,” said sophomore infielder Bruce Martin. “But I trust and believe in the process.”
Two key contributors on offense have been freshman utility player Edgar Martinez and first baseman Christian Garabedian. Martinez has the Sharks’ highest batting average (.450) and slugging average (.713). Garabedian has a .484 on-base percentage and a .389 batting average.
Garabedian, Martinez and catcher Danny Mondejar are tied for the team lead in home runs with three each. Sophomores Raul Cabrera and Ramon Varela have added two home runs each.
The Sharks have a team batting average of .353, which ranked 10th in the National Junior College Athletic Association. They also rank fourth in the NJCAA with 16 sacrifice flies.
“This team is pretty talented, but it all comes from how much and how far they want to go,” Price said. “We’re competing but I think we can be so much better.”
The Sharks next game is on the road versus Indian River State College on March 21 at 3 p.m.
