Titans win in bottom of ninth in final regular-season game
As soon as the ball left Sammy Duran's bat, Norberto Navarro had one thing on his mind.
"I was just thinking go home, no matter what I have to get home," Navarro said.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Navarro rounded third and dove head first through home plate to give the Eastern Florida State College baseball team a 6-5 victory against Palm Beach State in the final regular season game of the season for the Titans.
"This is what they needed. They needed a confidence boost, they needed a walk-off type win, something big and they made it happen," Eastern Florida State College baseball coach Jeff Tam said.
The Titans came out swinging as Navarro led off the game with a single, stole second and scored on Jacob McFadden's double. Jeff Korte followed with an RBI single to give the Titans a 2-0 lead. Dylan Owens hit a towering shot for his third home run of the season in the second inning to make it 3-0.
Palm Beach State would tie the game in the fourth inning and took the lead in the top of the sixth. But the Titans struck back in the bottom of the sixth with two runs. Palm Beach State would once again tie it in the seventh inning and had two big chances to take the lead but strong defense kept it tied 5-5.
With the bases loaded and one out in the seventh inning, McFadden made a great diving catch in left field, jumped up and threw out the runner at second base to end the inning. Then in the top of the ninth inning, Palm Beach State had the bases loaded again with two outs and reliever Hector Abreu snagged a line drive to end the threat.
"He hasn't gotten the work all year but he came in and picked us up when we needed it the most," Tam said.
Navarro, Korte and Sebastian Rivera each had two hits for the Titans, who will be back in action Thursday night in a playoff game against St. Petersburg at Polk State College. The winner will advance to the FCSAA State Baseball Tournament beginning May 5.
"We have a big game tomorrow, we have to play like we did today. If we play like we played today, it will be hard to beat us," Navarro said.