Playing at Marlins’ loanDepot park, Northwestern baseball shuts out North Miami Beach
As his team stepped onto the field at loanDepot park on Monday, Darrell Pender saw the excitement in his players’ eyes.
Here they were. Pender’s Miami Northwestern High baseball team was about to face North Miami Beach on the Miami Marlins’ home baseball field in the Marlins’ inaugural Jackie Robinson Classic, three days after Major League Baseball celebrated the 75th anniversary of Robinson breaking the color barrier in MLB.
Before they got to the field, Pender had a simple message for his team.
“Listen,” the coach said, “if this don’t get y’all up to play or give you more energy, I don’t know what will.”
The response was immediate.
“We’re ready coach,” they told Pender. “We’re ready to go.”
That they were. Northwestern dominated from start to finish in its 3-0 win over North Miami Beach.
Sophomore pitcher Jah’syi Narcisse struck out 12 batters over seven shutout innings.
Catcher Jose Mercado had two hits, an RBI triple in the first to open scoring and an RBI single in the fifth.
Both of Mercado’s hits scored junior center fielder Darrell Pender Jr., who reached base three times with a double and a pair of hit by pitches.
And junior Levan Levy went from first to home on a failed pickoff attempt in the fourth.
While all of this was happening, Northwestern’s band and a sizable contingent from the school was cheering from the stands.
“Today, on a scale of one to 10, it was 100,” Pender said. “It was a pretty nice experience. I told the boys I’ve never seen this energy from them all season. In two years, I’ve never seen this out of them, but they told me they were going to bring it today — and they did.”
Sarah Garcia, director of the Marlins Youth Academy, said the Marlins had been working on bringing the Jackie Robinson Classic together for a few years. The goal from the onset, Garcia said, was to “invite two predominantly African-American, Miami-Dade County public schools to have an opportunity to play on a big league field and field and feel like a big leaguer.”
The Marlins plan to make this an annual event, with different inner-city teams playing in the event each year.
The students received customized Marlins shirts in their respective school colors with the number 42 on the back along with one of Robinson’s nine values — courage, determination, commitment, persistence, integrity, justice, teamwork, citizenship and excellence.
“It was truly amazing to see their faces,” Garcia said.
The Marlins made sure to give the teams an experience. Each player was introduced one by one pregame. Their name and picture appeared on the center field scoreboard when they took the mound or stepped into the batter’s box. The team even used its new multi-colored LED lights at various points during the game.
Both schools were well represented in the crowd, with friends, family and fellow student-athletes cheering in the lower-level seats behind home plate.
As for the game itself, it was all Northwestern (7-7).
And their shutout effort began with Narcisse, who is also part of the Marlins’ RBI program. Narcisse retired the first nine batters he faced — six by strikeout — and allowed just four total baserunners on two singles and two walks.
“He pitched the best game of his life,” Mercado said.
When Pender told Narcisse he would be starting on Monday, the pitcher confidently said he would throw a complete game.
Mission accomplished. Pender pointed to Narcisse’s command of both his fastball and slider as the reason for his success.
Narcisse, meanwhile, got amped up as he heard the school band marching on the Promenade level of the ballpark in the second inning and the cheers from the crowd throughout the game.
“It’s time to lock in,” he said. “It’s time to show up.”
That he did.
As for North Miami Beach, the Chargers fall to 6-8 on the season but remained grateful for the opportunity to play in an MLB stadium.
“Did we get the loss? Yes,” Chargers coach Yoanquy Martrinez said, “but the experience I think is worth more. At the end of the day, it’s not every day that a high school group of guys can play in a major-league stadium. And just what the day means with Jackie Robinson, that’s more than anything.”
This story was originally published April 18, 2022 at 7:37 PM.
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