27-04-2025
Big first inning propels Taravella past Western in 7A baseball regional quarterfinals
Check another goal off the list for the Taravella baseball team.
The young, talented, and fundamentally sound Trojans on Saturday took care of business and tripped up Western, 9-4, in the decisive third game of a Region 4-7A quarterfinal series.
JC Martinez powered Taravella with four hits, including a double and home run, and finished the afternoon with four hits and three RBIs.
Left-hander Joey Ghann allowed just one earned run in 4 2/3 innings, and Taravella now advances to the Region 4-7A semifinals against four-time, defending state champion Stoneman Douglas.
Game 1 of the three-game set will be on Wednesday at Douglas, the top seed in the region. Game 2 will be on Thursday, and if Game 3 is necessary, it will be on Saturday, May 3, at Taravella.
'We set two goals for the season,' Taravella first-year coach Jorge Miranda said. 'First goal was making it to regionals. We had a good enough regular season to get to regionals, comfortably, within the first four or five seeds. And win one series.'
Already, the Trojans accomplished those objectives.
Even though they lost 2-0 to Western on April 14 in the first game of the district tournament, Taravella entered the regional quarterfinals as the fourth seed. Western was fifth. The Wildcats forced a game three with a 9-3 win on Thursday at Taravella.
Taravella (17-11) seized control on Saturday with a five-run first inning. All the runs scored with two outs. Anthony Tizol opened the scoring with a two-run home run to right.
Western starter Ryan Schaefer was hurt by walks, issuing five of them, and the right-hander was lifted after recording two outs.
Sebastian Mayfield kept the inning alive with his two-out walk. Tizol followed with his homer.
'Scoring five runs with two outs set the tone,' Miranda said.
With a big lead early, Ghann pitched to contact, and let his defense work behind him. Third baseman Colton Dishman, especially, stood out at third base.
'I think rolling into the next couple of innings, and having ground ball after ground ball, and my third baseman making play after play, allowed us to kind of calm down,' Miranda said.
Zach Stephens had an RBI double for Taravella, and Jeremiah McFarlane added a run-scoring single, and the Trojans never looked back.
Western (13-16) trailed 6-0 before getting on the board in the fifth inning. Gavin Andreu had a single and scored a run.
For Western, Miguel Tapia and Taisuky Rodriguez each scored runs for the Wildcats.
A decisive blow came in the top of the seventh when Martinez blistered a two-run home run to left-center, making it 9-3, before Western added a run in the seventh.
Bryson Plante pitched the final 2 1/3 innings for the Trojans.
'In games like this, it's about putting balls in play, playing good defense and getting outs,' Miranda said. 'That's what we did.'
The regional semifinals should be filled with drama and excitement with neighboring Stoneman Douglas and Taravella.
Douglas' pitching has been dominant all season, and it's been especially strong in the postseason. In the two regional wins against Cypress Bay, they gave up just two runs. And Douglas pitchers tossed two shutouts in the district tournament.
Coach Todd Fitz-Gerald's team certainly is among the favorites to win the 7A state title.
'Douglas is a great program,' Miranda said. 'Deep pitching staff. Good athletes. Fitz is a great coach. We're going to go in there as underdogs.
'Not saying nobody is going to give us a chance, because, obviously, I think we're a good enough team to go out there and compete. We're going in there with the mentality of playing loose, playing free, and whatever happens happens.'
