Coral Gables A's Stories: 2025 Florida Invitational, Pt. 2

The Coral Gables A's Face Two Arch Rivals in One Day: How Will It End?

On Day 1 of the Florida Invitational, the Coral Gables A’s administered a level of punishment thought to be banned by the 8th Amendment of the United States Constitution. Day 2 promised a tougher challenge. We were set to play against the two teams that defeated us in our last two championships: the Plant City Skyhawks, who beat us in the championship of this same tournament last year, and Team Venezuela (called Travel Team Miami in this tourney), who beat us in the championship of our home league. It was time to slay two dragons in one day.

Game 1: The Showdown Begins

Here’s how Game 1 unfolded.

Joeanthony Takes the Mound

On the mound for us was Joeanthony. As a former teammate of his at both the collegiate and professional levels, I take pride in having recruited him to join the A’s. We both got drafted out of Barry University. I could not have chosen a better game for him to pitch; he was facing the best hitting team in the tournament (besides us), the team that broke our hearts last year.

Joeanthony is a tall lefty who throws from a low ¾ arm slot. He generates a ton of grounders with his power sinker, changeup, and slider. He competes like a bulldog, and I knew everyone would feed off his energy.

He struck out two batters in a 1-2-3 top of the 1st inning.

Their pitcher was another lefty, but of the crafty variety. This is our least favorite type of pitcher. If he could spot his pitches and keep us off balance, we were in for a battle. He worked around two walks and induced an inning-ending double play in the bottom half of the 1st.

Back and Forth Action

Joeanthony was ambushed by their big hitter in the top of the 2nd. This was the same player responsible for the game-winning hit last year. He is a big lefty with tremendous power who swings for the fences. He jumped on the first pitch he saw, a fastball down the middle, and rocketed it over the right field fence. The score was now 1-0. No one else sniffed the ball, as Joeanthony struck out the side apart from the homer.

In the bottom half of the 2nd, Joe, playing right field, reached on a dropped third strike. After a fielder’s choice moved him to second, Andy, our first baseman, walked. Two batters later, the younger Gomez brother (G2) lined a single that brought one run in, while Andy scored on a passed ball during the next at-bat. The score was 2-1 after the 2nd inning.

Joeanthony worked around a bloop hit in the 3rd and struck out yet another hitter, his sixth of the game. In the bottom of the 3rd, I hit a two-out double and then stole third. Their catcher, having a tough game, allowed another pitch to squeak by him, which I scored on. The score was now 3-1 in our favor.

Open the Flood Gates

In the 4th inning, Joeanthony worked around a walk and a single, racking up another strikeout, making it seven on the day. Gomez, the eldest, led off the bottom of the 4th with a laser beam through the hole for a single. This brought Joe to the plate, who decided to one-up Gomez by launching a pitch over the left field fence for a two-run jack (video above, great home run call from Peewee). Jorge kept the party going by lining a single up the middle, and Andy followed suit with another single. Juany walked, bringing G2 to the plate with the bases loaded.

You can always count on G2 in these situations, and he lived up to his reputation. He shot a ball down the third base line for a bases-clearing double. Alex added to our lead with an RBI single, bringing G2 around to score. We scored six runs in the 4th, making it 9-1. The fact that this happened against this specific team made it that much sweeter. I wish we could’ve hit like this last year.

Fighting Back

You have to give the Skyhawks credit: they can hit. They’re never truly out of a game with their lineup. Coupled with the fact that we tend to kick the ball around in the field, no lead was completely safe.

Despite two singles and a walk that scored one run, Joeanthony was in position to escape the 5th with only one run allowed. However, we booted a ball in the outfield that would’ve been the final out of the inning. Instead, two unearned runs scored, and a single after the errors brought another in. The score was now 9-5. That cushiony lead was fun for the ten minutes it lasted.

We went 1-2-3 in the top of the 6th. Joeanthony, apart from the home run in the 2nd, was not giving up hard contact and didn’t seem to be losing any bite on his pitches. We decided to keep rolling with him in the 6th, and were rewarded for it. He retired the side in order and added his eighth strikeout on the day. That’s how you bounce back from a challenging inning.

Putting Things to Bed

We strung together a rally in the top of the 7th, mostly by taking what the opposition was giving us. Amed, Joe, Jorge, Andy, Peewee, and I all drew walks, while Juany and Nick reached on errors. Coupling the free bases with a big hit from Nick, who hit twice in the inning, and a sac fly by me, we tacked on four more runs. The score was now 13-5. With a scoreless bottom half, we secured the knockout, which kicks in if you’re up by eight or more by the 7th or later.

We replaced one big lefty with another in Aldo. Although Aldo was scheduled to pitch later in the tournament, he treated this inning like a bullpen to keep his arm fresh. A real bullpen might have been better for him, as he went 1-2-3 on less than ten pitches, picking up a strikeout in the process. And that’s all she wrote.

We won 13-5. The sting of last year’s championship game will always be there, but it felt good to beat them, even though the stakes weren’t as high.

We were set to play another group of heartbreakers in Game 2, and not because they’re handsome.

Game 2: Edilson on the Mound

Edilson would be throwing Game 2 for us. He pitched in the Twins organization and became the all-time wins leader in the Pecos League, one of the top independent pro leagues. He’s a big righty who fills up the zone with a fastball, splitter, curveball, and probably a few more pitches. There’s a reason he had so much success as a pro.

Team Venezuela doesn’t care who’s on the mound. They battle through it all. They slapped two singles in the first, the second one to Joe in right field. Joe has a Winchester rifle for a right arm; he came up firing and delivered a strike to home plate to nail the runner. We escaped the 1st inning unscathed.

Their pitcher was a guy we’ve faced a couple of times. He pitched in the Braves organization and throws decently hard with a very good slider. Despite X and Nick drawing walks, we were unable to push them across. The score was 0-0 after one.

A's Baseball

Edilson went 1-2-3 in the 2nd, striking out his second hitter. We strung something together in the bottom half. Jorge led off with a single, Andy walked, and Juany hit another single. After a flyout that wasn’t deep enough to score Jorge from third, Alex drew a base-loaded walk that brought home his older brother. The score was now 1-0. We wouldn’t score after that.

The Battle Continues

Our defense bit us in the 3rd. With the last out of the inning seemingly secured, we made an errant throw and messed up a rundown on the bases. One disastrous play resulted in two unearned runs scoring. The score was now 2-1 in favor of Venezuela.

Amed hit a single and stole second in the bottom of the 3rd, but we couldn’t bring him around to score.

Edilson was locked in after the funky 3rd inning. He worked around a single in the top of the 4th and picked up his third strikeout. Nick led off the bottom of the 4th with a single, and Gomez drew a walk. However, we couldn’t capitalize, as a few hard-hit balls right at people ended our would-be rally.

Edilson again worked around a base hit and struck out another hitter in a scoreless 5th. His game plan was simple: pitch to contact with no one on base, and wipe them out if he ever got in trouble. The score remained 2-1 heading to the bottom of the 5th.

Willy's Big Hit

Andy led off the 5th with a scorcher down the third base line for a double. Juany then hit a single, pushing Andy to third. G2 walked, loading the bases for Willy.

Willy does not get cheated when he swings. As a result, when he connects, the ball goes places. This was the perfect moment for him to connect, and boy, did he ever. Willy sent a fastball over the left fielder’s head for a bases-clearing double. We’d been getting big hits in big spots all tournament, and that trend continued here. The score was now 4-2 in our favor after five.

The Edilson Show

We made an error behind Edilson in the top of the 6th, but it didn’t matter. He induced a double play and struck out his fifth hitter of the day. We went 1-2-3 in the bottom half.

Edilson seemed to be getting stronger as the game went on. He struck out the side in the 7th. That made it eight strikeouts on the day, compared to one walk, all the way back in the 1st.

We tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the 7th. Joe drew a one-out walk, Jorge squared up a line drive for a single, Juany walked, and G2 hit into a fielder’s choice that brought a run in. The other scored on a passed ball (we’d been getting extremely lucky with those). The score was now 6-2 after 7.

Edilson was still dealing, but a costly error brought a run in for Team Venezuela. He struck out his ninth batter, which was a nice consolation. The score was 6-3 in our favor going into the 9th.

Knockout Punch

Willy got plunked to lead off the 9th. Peewee followed him and…also got hit by a pitch. Amed then singled to load the bases. After two quick outs (one of them being me after I struck out for the third time, but that’s neither here nor there), Nick came up. Our manager smoked a ball into the gap, bringing two runs in. Another run scored on, you guessed it, a passed ball. The score was now 9-3 in our favor.

You have to give tremendous credit to Alex, Jorge, and Joe, our three catchers. They are like brick walls back there. Having a good backstop was an enormous asset in this tournament, as you can tell by the number of runs we scored on passed balls. Jorge caught every inning of both games on this day, as his brother did the day before. Sunday would be Joe’s day.

Edilson finished the job in the 9th, capping off a sparkling complete game. He allowed one earned run, struck out nine, and walked one. An absolute caballo. The final score was 9-3.

---

Our first two days and four games could not have been scripted any better. We went into Sunday playoffs having outscored our opponents 44 to 9. Our pitchers were untouchable. Our bats were unstoppable. We were playing good enough defense. The Coral Gables A’s were looking good.

How would Day 3 turn out? The final recap article is coming soon!

Subscribe now for updates on the latest and greatest banter from the Peanut Gallery!