Carlos Gonzalez has pitched in big games before.
Four years ago, he played for Venezuela in the U15 Baseball World Cup.
But on Thursday night, the Taft junior was on the biggest stage of his life and delivered a performance to match.
Gonzalez pitched a four-hitter with eight strikeouts as Taft beat Young 5-1 at Wrigley Field to win the Public League title.
The right-hander, who moved to the U.S. from Venezuela two years ago, plays with plenty of emotion anyway. Pitching in the biggest game of the season in one of baseball’s iconic venues just ramped up his intensity.
“The adrenaline that you feel when you pitch in a game like that, all the people in the stands supporting me — I know my parents were there, I know my friends were there supporting me,” he said. “So that gave me the energy to pitch today.
“I always pitch with my heart, always that energy.”
It was up in the air whether he’d be able to finish the game because of the high-school pitch-count rules. He began the seventh at 111 pitches, but got the first two Young hitters to chase first pitches and make outs. Then a flyout ended it after 119 pitches, and the Eagles’ drought was over.
Sophomore right fielder Ethan Acosta provided all the run support Gonzalez needed with a two-run single to right in the first inning and a three-run double to the left-center gap in the third.
“It’s surreal,” Acosta said. “This is a place that you dream of coming to when you’re younger. You always think Wrigley Field, the Friendly Confines. … So when you’re really stepping into the stadium, it just brings me back to my childhood memories.”
There’s some mystery over how long it’s been since the Eagles’ last city title. Public League records say it was 1964, but Taft officials cited a local newspaper story reporting a championship in 1968.
Either way, it was a long time coming for Taf (14-14) and coach Matt Malarski, a 1990 alum who played for longtime coach Rich Pildes.
“That’s my mentor, coach Pildes,” Malarski said. “I owe everything to coach Pildes. He was with our school for 38 years and I’m just sorry he never got one of these. But this means everything.”
The Eagles started slowly this spring, were 4-9 a month ago and didn’t reach .500 for the first time till upsetting Jones in the semifinals.
“We started to hit,” Malaski said. “And when you hit, you’re in games.”
Just getting to the final was a big achievement for Young (18-13), which was denied its first city title since 2010. The Dolphins snapped Public League favorite Lane’s 23-game winning streak in the semifinals, winning 7-5.
Losing pitcher Isaac Stoelinga was 2-for-3 and scored Young’s run.
“We’ve done this a couple times this year where we’re hitting the ball hard, just up in the air, right at people, they’re not dropping in,” Dolphins coach Chris Cassidy said. “It wasn’t our day. …
“Kudos to them, they played a great game and just beat us.”