RE Log Fall 2016

36 Ransom Everglades LOG FALL 2016 RE Sp ts The best in a decade Raiders baseball overachieves in spring 2016 Led by a surprising ace and a strong cast of seniors, RE’s baseball team exceeded even players’ expectations as it put together its best season in more than a decade. The 2016 squad won just its second district playoff game since 2004 and advanced to its first South Florida Baseball Conference championship in the game’s eight-year existence. “Everybody pulled together,” Coach Kenny Perez said. “There was no ‘I’ in that team; from seniors to freshmen, everyone played as one.” A team that hadn’t won even half of its games in 12 years posted a 14-7 record. The improvement grew out of voluntary off-season workouts that attracted a crowd of players and helped build a bond that extended through the spring. Seniors Steve Vinson, Sam Bolduc, Rick Suarez, Sam Chaneles, Ryan Moralejo, Ilan Lindenfeld and Danny Halula welcomed the younger players and led by example. Alumni coaches Alec Hyde ’11 and Thomas Willis ’04 provided additional leadership. Vinson, the team’s Most Valuable Player and a second-team All-Dade selection, excelled on the mound, finishing 7-3 with a 2.19 earned-run average, 61 strikeouts and six complete games. Bolduc led the team in every statistical category, batting over .400 with an on-base average of .430. Suarez hit .365 and drove in 15 runs. Said Perez: “It was a fun ride.” Three in a row RE girls win another state title in water polo Six Ransom Everglades players scored to lead the girls’ water polo team to its third straight state championship. This wasn’t RE’s most talented cast of players ever, yet it might have been its best team. The 9-6 victory over Olympia (Orlando) High on April 16, 2016, proved a testament to dedication and togetherness – and it gave RE girls’ water polo its seventh state title in eight years. “They were a diamond in the rough – deep in the rough,” Coach Eric Lefebvre said. “They had to work on a lot. The amazing thing is, they all did it collectively. As a group, they all improved so much.” In the final, Elle Futernick ’17 scored three goals; Sofia Carrera-Justiz ’16 added two; and Carolina Carrera- Justiz ’18, Mya Wright ’17, Isa Reyes-Capo ’16 and Ande Edmunds ’18 each scored one. The girls started the season with two losses in their first three games, but they ended it having a dance party in the locker room during the championship final – as they waited out a two-hour rain delay. The girls preferred to crank up the music rather than quietly ponder the day’s stakes. “Fun works better for this team,” said goalie Claire McDowell ’16 , an All-Dade first-team selection. “It loosens us up. When we are stressed, we psych ourselves out.”