Columbus advances to GMAC baseball final, faces first-time finalist Varela next

Pitchers understand that it’s not always about strikeouts and overpowering batters. It’s about “gobbling” up outs and keeping teams from scoring.

That’s exactly what Columbus pitcher Jason Vasquez did on Tuesday afternoon.

When starter Nick Zarranz struggled out of the gate for the Explorers, Vasquez entered in relief in the third inning and never came off the mound.

Even though he gave up five hits and only struck out two, Vasquez never walked a batter, never gave up a run and watched his infield turn three double plays along the way as Columbus topped Miami Springs 5-3 at home in a GMAC semifinal contest.

The Explorers, ranked No. 5 in the Herald’s South Florida Top 10 poll, moved their record to 17-4 and will host Varela, which defeated Braddock 5-2 in the other semifinal, in the GMAC championship game on Thursday at 6 p.m. It is the Vipers’ first ever trip to a GMAC final.

Miami Springs, ranked No. 9, fell to 11-6.

With Springs having already plated three runs in the third inning after Columbus had taken a 4-0 lead with a four-run second, Vasquez inherited a first and second one-out situation and immediately gave up a base hit to right by Andy Hernandez.

But the runner on second was held at third and when Sam Camacho flied out to center one pitch later, Vasquez was out of the inning, preserving the one run lead.

Thanks to a two-out throwing error at shortstop, Columbus added a run in the bottom of the third and neither team crossed the plate the rest of the way.

“I just felt very comfortable out there today,” said Vasquez, a sophomore. “My fast ball and off speed were really working and I was staying ahead in the count which is really important to avoid walking anyone which I didn’t.”

The only other rough patch for Vasquez came in the sixth when, after Ivan Membreno hit a one-out single to right, Camacho drilled a shot down into the left field corner leaving runners at second and third. But Vasquez didn’t flinch. Facing the No. 8 and 9 hitters in the lineup, he would only throw four more pitches. He got Keyber Delgado to swing at the first pitch, a pop out in the infield before striking out Leo Miranda on three pitches to end the inning.

“I just got a little adrenaline going right there and just settled down and made the pitches I needed to make,” Vasquez said. “Give it up to my infield for turning all thos DPs today, that was huge.”

The third and final time Columbus did it was in the final inning. After Jordanny Gonzalez led off the inning with a base hit, Springs’ 11th of the day, he got Jordan Perez to hit one right at second baseman Jovan Swasey who turned the 4-6-3 trick for the third time on the day squashing any potential Springs rally.

“The crazy part is I think coming into today, we had only turned five double plays all season,” Columbus coach Joe Weber said. “Then we come out and turn three in one game and probably should’ve had a fourth. We pitch to contact big-time here because our defense is really good. then you have the turf field here of course (Columbus plays on a turf field) so we’re especially good at home defensively and you saw that out there today.”

While Weber is certainly happy with his team’s performance so far this season, he reminded anybody that wanted to be reminded that the bar of success at Columbus is different than other programs.

The baseball team is looking for its third state title and first since 2015 and will have an opportunity to make history for the school. Following football and basketball state titles, Columbus would be the first school in state history to win the football/basketball/baseball “triple crown.”

Of course, one giant obstacle standing in between them and another trip to state in Fort Myers will be No. 2 nationally ranked and two-time reigning state champion Stoneman Douglas.

“We’re not gonna make anything bigger out of this then it was just another game today,” Weber said. “These kids know what we expect here and we expect to get to a state championship every year.Anything less, whether we’re playing Douglas or not, is failure. The bar is set high around here. Too many guys have come through here and done it and this is what we expect and demand.”

▪ GMAC semifinal - Varela 5, Braddock 2: The Vipers (14-1-1) continue what is their best start to a season in school history with another milestone as they advanced to their first ever GMAC final.

A day after he delivered the game-winning hit in Varela’s 6-5 walk-off win in the quarterfinals against Sunset, Nicolas Machado drove in three runs and went 1 for 2 to lead the Vipers at the plate. Juan Concepcion went 3 for 3 and Sebastian Gonzalez went 3 for 4 with an RBI.

Edgar Colon struck out 13 and tossed a three-hitter, giving up two unearned runs and walking only two batters.

Simon Molina went 2 for 4 with an RBI and Jordan Alzate had a double as well as Varela struck quickly with three runs in the first inning and never trailed.

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