Estevez's gem powers Miami Springs to first trip to state baseball final four since 2019

Miami-Dade High Schools Estevez's gem powers Miami Springs to first trip to state baseball final four since 2019
Special to the Miami Herald
The Miami Springs baseball team started its season in Fort Myers three months ago. And the Golden Hawks are going to finish it there as well.
Six years after making a first-ever trip to the state final four, Springs is headed back again following an impressive 5-0 shutout victory over St. Brendan in Game two of a Region 4-3A final on Wednesday afternoon at Springs' Shelly Dunkel Field.
The win finished off an outstanding three-week run by the Hawks who entered as the region's No. 1 seed and finished a perfect 6-0 on their home field. Along the way, they outscored their three opponents, iMater Academy, Monsignor Pace and St. Brendan by a composite score of 39-7.
Springs (26-3) advances to the Class 3A state semifinals for the first time since 2019 and will play on Monday, May 19 at the Lee Health Sports Complex – Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers. The Hawks will enter as the No. 3 seed and will face either Clearwater Calvary Christian or Fort Myers Bishop Verot who are playing Game 3 of their best-of-3 series in Region 3-3A on Thursday night.
If it's Bishop Verot, it would mark a rematch of the two teams who met in Fort Myers to kick off the 2025 season in a Feb. 3 preseason classic.
'Isn't it something how it all started for us in Fort Myers three months ago and now we're going to finish in Fort Myers,' Springs coach David Fanshawe said. 'Hopefully we've got two more wins in us to complete the journey.'
Fanshawe said that even though the game didn't count officially, the 8-1 victory over a Bishop Verot team that is currently 26-1 this season was a huge confidence booster for his players.
'Even though it was only a preseason game, we played really well against them that night and beat them decisively,' Fanshawe said. 'I think that our kids got a boatload of confidence from that game and as it turned out, was the launching pad to our season.'
One day after winning a 3-2 extra-inning nail-biter over St. Brendan in the first game, there would be no such drama on Wednesday thanks to a brilliant and dominating pitching performance by senior Magdiel Estevez.
With an effective slider that St. Brendan hitters simply could not figure out, Estevez was in complete command the entire time, as he struck out 10 Sabre batters, gave up just two hits, and walked just two as the Sabres (19-15) had just two runners reach second base.
The only thing keeping Estevez from a complete game shutout was pitch count. With just one batter left, he maxed out at 105 pitches forcing Fanshawe to replace him with reliever Anthony Espinoza, who recorded the final out.
'Maybe I was a little nervous inside but I managed to stay calm all game long and really got out there and found my comfort zone,' said Estevez, a Miami-Dade commit. 'I was excited for the game and the opportunity to come through for my team. I was really getting a lot of movement on my slider, filthy for sure.'
Estevez also enjoyed what all pitchers love, especially in a big game – an early lead.
The Hawks got him a single run in the first inning and then blew things open when No. 9 hitter Justin Mercado stepped up with the bases loaded in the second and ripped a line shot down the right field line to clear the bases and put the Hawks up 4-0.
Miami Springs pitcher Magdiel Estevez dominated from first pitch to last pitch as he gave up just two hits and struck out 10 to lead the Hawks to a 5-0 victory over St. Brendan in the clinching game of the Region 4-3A final series. Bill Daley
Special to the Miami Herald
'The early runs were big,' Estevez said. 'When you get a lead that like, it gives you the confidence to make some pitches without the worry of making a mistake and giving up a long ball because you have a little wiggle room. What a cool moment this is for me. You dream about something like this as a little kid playing Little League.'
The Hawks, whose only losses this season came to COHEA, Belen Jesuit and Varela in a GMAC semifinal, then got Estevez one more run in the fourth when Yordan Torres, who delivered an RBI game-winning hit in the ninth on Tuesday, came through again with a one-out triple before scoring on a wild pitch.
'Every high school team out there sets this as a goal whey they take the practice field back in January and to realize it, to actually walk through that door to state is just so gratifying,' Springs catcher and senior captain Kelven Perera said. 'All the hard work paid off. Now, we've got some time to get ready and we want to go out there and take advantage of the opportunity in front of us and get two more wins.'

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