The Varela Vipers are taking a road trip to take on the South Dade Buccaneers at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Varela's pitching crew has only allowed 3.6 runs per game this season, so South Dade's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Varela took a loss when they played away from home on Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Monday. They came out on top against St. Brendan by a score of 9-5.
Luis Sosa
| 04/07/25 vs St. Brendan | 9 |
| 03/19/25 @ Mater Academy Charter | 8 |
| 03/03/25 @ Mater Lakes Academy | 8 |
| 04/02/25 @ Miami Springs | 7 |
| 03/11/24 @ Hialeah Educational Academy | 7 |
Luis Sosa made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out nine batters over four innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. Those nine strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
In other batting news, Varela let Jonathan Paniagua and Yoidi Martinez run wild. Paniagua scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3, while Martinez went 2-for-3 with one triple, one run, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Alejandro Ponte, who scored a run while going 1-for-4.
Varela was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .407. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as St. Brendan only posted a batting average of .174.
Meanwhile, South Dade entered their tilt with Downtown Doral on Wednesday with two consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with three. They blew past the Dolphins 12-6. With that victory, the Buccaneers brought their scoring average up to 6.2 runs per game.
Luis Alejandro Mora and Luis Hernandez did most of the damage at the plate: Mora went 1-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs, while Hernandez went a perfect 3-for-3 with four RBI, one stolen base, and one double. South Dade is undefeated when Mora posts two or more runs, but 8-11 otherwise. Zac Tyre was another key player, scoring three runs while going 3-for-4.
Varela pushed their record up to 14-6-2 with the win, which was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.6 runs over those games. As for South Dade, their record is now 13-11.
Varela came out on top in a nail-biter against South Dade in their previous matchup back in February, sneaking past 4-3. Will the Vipers repeat their success, or do the Buccaneers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
