For the past two seasons, the Marathon High baseball team has been on the verge of winning the South Florida Baseball Conference championship, reaching the title game during both campaigns only to let it slip away in the big moment. This year, the Dolphins were determined to prove the third time is the charm, and with ace Dylan Ziels on the mound, Marathon accomplished the feat with a 6-0 victory against Riviera Prep on Thursday, April 25, on the Miami Country Day campus.
“The emotion our program is feeling right now is a feeling like no other,” said Gonzalez. “15 years … 15 years chasing a championship, chasing history. We did it.”
Named the tournament MVP after tossing a complete-game shutout in the semifinals, Ziels followed the performance with another shutout showing this time across six frames, during which the senior struck out nine and allowed just five hits and two walks to put his squad in position for the title.
The offense did not need to do much to earn the win but still came through with a run in the third on a sacrifice fly by Mason Thorton following a lead-off double by Jack Chapman and a single by Gabe Leal. The ‘Fins added to the lead in the fourth on a Chapman double and RBI ground out from Leal, driving in Brain Broche who had singled, then put up three more insurance runs in the seventh on singles by Leo Mendez and Leal.
The extra runs were not needed in the end as Thornton, coming in relief for the final frame, sat the side down in order to seal the first SFBC Championship in the Dolphins’ history. Now 18-5 on the season, Marathon will look to add to the historic campaign by ending an FHSAA postseason losing streak that is nearly a decade long when they take on Somerset Silver Palm in the District 16-4A semifinals on Tuesday, March 30, on the Middle Keys campus at 7 p.m.
“We are bringing hardware home to our amazing community,” said Gonzalez. “Thank you to the fans near and far who have supported us all season and thank you to our sponsors.”
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