Baseball teams face challenges

The high school baseball teams in Homestead are facing the ups and downs that all programs must experience.

The South Dade Senior High School baseball team has a 7-3-2 record. The Bucs recently lost to Palmetto 5-3. They also recently lost to St. John Paul II Academy 11-4 and tied Palm Beach Gardens 5-5.

But the Bucs have some talented and experienced players and are well led by experienced Coach Fred Burnside. He has been coaching for 12 years at South Dade.

During a recent tournament in Pompano Beach, Corey Rodriguez was named to the all-tournament team. The Bucs had two ties and two losses in this tournament.

Top players for South Dade include Brandon Roman and Oskar Amaya. Roman is a successful pitcher and plays outfield. Amaya has also done well at pitcher. Cory Rodriguez, Henry Rodriguez and Joniel O’Farrill are hitting about .400.

Burnside cares about the players and the team. He believes the Bucs will do well this season. “Pitching is the name of the game. We have a variety of ways to motivate our players. What works for one player may or may not work for another,” he said. “We have motivational videos. In baseball, giving a fire and brimstone speech in the locker room does not work. You want to compete and do well. We work hard in practice and we want get better. We want to peak in late April,” said Burnside. “We learned a lot by playing good teams from Palm Beach. Playing good competition makes you better.”

The Homestead Senior High School baseball team is 4-4. The team recently lost to Varela 12-2. Earlier the team beat American 8-1.

Top players include Eduardo Nunez and Adonis Moreno. Coach Bruce Berman believes Homestead has a good group of players who can have a successful season.