Baseball season is rapidly approaching, and our Stingaree batters and fielders can’t wait to get out on the baseball field. Even though last season ended at Regionals last May, that doesn’t mean players stopped practicing and stayed home during the off-season.
Some players were able to play with top-of-the line teams. Returning junior Johnathan-Sosa Medina was personally recruited by the Florida Legends, a well-known summer travel team. “I had great training and excellent coaches to help me take my skills to another level,” he said.
Senior Manny Garcia, a returner at shortstop, had the opportunity to play for a travel team called Selective Recruiting that took him to colleges to show coaches what he’s made of. “I had a great team and was fortunate to get a couple of college offers,” said Manny, who recently signed with La Salle College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Last year’s team had an overall record of 12-13 (W-L). There were a lot of great games and some horrible games during the season.
“The season felt like a roller-coaster,” said sophomore Yiovanni Matias. “We started off okay, and then went on a seven game losing streak, but somehow managed to fight through it,” he said. The Stings baseball team didn’t get out of the losing slump till a spring break tournament where they fell short in the semi-finals against the South Miami Cobras.
Most of the returning players said one of the most exciting games last season was with their districts rivals, the Coral Gables Cavaliers. The Stings lost both games during the season, but were extremely pumped to redeem themselves when it really counted, in the district playoffs. Whoever won the game would move on to fight to be district champions.
“It was a game that everyone thought that Gables would win,” said Senior Chris Howkins, a returner first baseman. “We were the underdogs of the district, and no one expected us to beat Gables.”

“It was a game that went back and forth,” said sophomore Mario Morales, a returning pitcher. ”It was a real nail bitter.” The Stings went on to win that game 6-5 in the 7th inning.
When they went on to play the Coral Park Rams in the district championship, the stings were defeated 7-11 and were unable to win the district title for a third time in the last three years.
The baseball team lost a large amount of players, with more than half of the starting lineup graduating last year. This year’s team will be full of rookies who will have to rise to the occasion.
“The team will have to put in twice the work if they want to be able to compete,” said Coach Frank Suarez.
“I believe that if everyone goes out there and just does their job, then we will be fine,” said senior outfielder Michael Cantillano.