Battle-tested Doral secures walk-off win to earn chance at first state baseball title
Doral Academy’s baseball team didn’t feel too tired at around 9 p.m. on Friday night.
Almost eight hours after they were scheduled to begin playing and over 10 hours after they arrived at Hammond Stadium, the Firebirds had plenty of energy left as they ran up to junior first baseman Daniel Restrepo and celebrated with the hero of their 5-4 weather-delayed, extra-inning victory over Tampa Sickles in a Class 6A state semifinal.
Restrepo, who went 3 for 5 with four RBI, drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth when he singled past a drawn-in Sickles infield to drive home Adrian Santana and propel Doral (25-4-1) to its second ever state championship game and first since 2019.
Doral will try to win its first state title when it takes on Santa Rosa Pace on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the 6A final.
“The weather delays played a big part in our concentration level. We just had to keep coming back and refocusing ourselves,” Restrepo said. “I came in feeling confident to win with our team.”
The Firebirds started their game two and a half hours late after Pace’s 2-1 semifinal win over Melbourne was delayed by lightning in the area.
Just three batters into the game, Doral and Sickles had to wait again for two more hours due to lightning.
Doral then blew a 4-0 lead in the sixth and squandered a golden opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the seventh when it loaded the bases with no outs when Restrepo did not come through. After he struck out, center fielder Michael Torres was then caught in a rundown between third base and home plate and tagged out. Torres was then ejected by the home plate umpire after he slammed his helmet down in frustration. Robert Rodriguez then struck out to end the inning.
But Restrepo believed he’d get another opportunity.
Santana led off the inning with a single and later stole second. After Nicholas Calderon bunted Santana over to third, Sickles intentionally walked the bases loaded. But Restrepo snuck a liner past second baseman Cameron Guise’s reach and into right field to end the game.
“(Restrepo)’s been outstanding all year,” Doral coach Ralph Suarez said. “He was very clutch and didn’t try to do too much at the plate.”
In spite of the weather delays, Doral didn’t take long to strike as Restrepo drove in two runs in the first with a double off the wall in the left field corner.
Restrepo drove in another run in the third with a single and Santana would plate a fourth run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
Starting pitcher Jake Gorelick pitched five scoreless innings, striking out three and allowing two walks and one hit.
But Gorelick, typically used as a reliever, lost control in the sixth and walked McDonald and Justin Allen to start the frame and then a torrential downpour prompted a brief 20-minute delay.
When play resumed, Torres came in from center field to pitch and proceeded to walk Bryce Vance to load the bases and then walked Thomas Bly to force in a run.
Luis Rodriguez came in for Torres and gave up a single to right by Cameron Guise. Two batters later, Nico Berg hit a ball deep in the hole at shortstop for an infield single that plated another run. The Gryphons tied the game when Bly scored on a throwing error by Jake Santos when he overthrew first base while trying to complete what would have been an inning-ending double play.
Rodriguez pitched three consecutive scoreless innings to hold Sickles in check and kept Doral alive long enough until it mustered the winning rally in the ninth.
“We played so many good teams that it slows the game down even in those situations,” Suarez said. “That’s what prepares you for games like this.”
