Miami Sunset baseball’s turnaround season will continue at state

The Miami Sunset baseball team’s turnaround season just went from remarkable to historic.

The Knights, who had already captured the attention of high school baseball fans across South Florida this season, took their incredible run to a higher level on Tuesday night when they stunned host Key West 2-1 in the Region 4-4A final.

Sunset (17-8), a team that was winless two seasons ago and won only one game in its past two seasons, is now headed to the state final four for the first time in school history.

Click to resize

Sunset had only made it to regionals once before in its history in 2013.

Even more remarkable is the way Sunset has made this run to state as the No. 6 seed in its region.

The Knights will take on Citra North Marion, the highest remaining seed in Class 4A, in a state semifinal on Friday at 7 p.m. at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.

Senior ace Johan Hidalgo paced the Knights, pitching 6 ⅓ innings, allowing one unearned run and striking out eight with only one walk. A.J. Garcia picked up the save with one strikeout and retired the final two batters of the game.

“(Heck) of a performance by Johan and A.J., he shut the door like a champ,” Sunset coach Julio Mendoza said. “We’re so blessed over here. These kids are amazing.”

For the second consecutive regional playoff game, the Knights rallied from an early deficit. After falling behind 1-0 in the fifth, Sunset scored twice in the sixth on hits by Miguel Gonzalez and Jonathan Diamond, who led the Knights at the plate going 2 for 3.

This story was originally published May 16, 2023 11:36 PM.