The parents of Felipe and Andres Echarte had a difficult time rooting for one particular team as both their sons were the head coaches of opposing baseball clubs in the Fort Lauderdale Little League Major division championship. In the end, there could only be one winner who would have bragging rights at the Echarte dinner table.
Older sibling Felipe Echarte’s Radius Financial Sewer Rats prevailed over Andres Echarte’s Mind and Mobility Gators 8-2 at Holiday Park. The Major division featured eight teams battling through the regular season to face off in the double-elimination playoffs.
The top two teams coming into the playoffs were the Gators and the Marlins. The Sewer Rats won their opening game of the playoffs but then dropped a 11-8 decision to the Athletics to knock them into the loser’s bracket. They proceeded to beat the Tropics 9-5 and came back from four runs down in the last inning to defeat the Marlins 8-6. The Sewer Rats defeated the Athletics 9-4 to set up the sibling matchup against the Gators who started out hot and won their first three playoff games to put themselves in the driver’s seat.
After battling out of the loser’s bracket, the Sewer Rats made it to the championship round where they would have to defeat the Gators twice. The Gators had defeated the Sewer Rats twice in the regular season 6-5, and 11-7. What the Sewer Rats had working for them was a deep pitching rotation that became a necessity in the playoff tournament format.
The Sewer Rats had a convincing 14-4 victory against the Gators to force a winner-take-all finale at Holiday Park.
In the championship game, Sebastian “Sebe” Echarte earned the victory for the Sewer Rats by pitching two perfect innings and turned the ball over to Jack Melnicoff who went the final four innings for the save. They were supported by a strong offensive attack that scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning, two runs in the second and third innings and one in the fourth inning for an 8-0 lead they would not relinquish.
The Sewer Rats had three sets of brothers on the club. Catcher James Melnicoff had a strong defensive game and supported his brother Jack on the mound with a strong offensive performance by banging out two hits and two RBI’s. Benjamin (Benji) Echarte and Dylan Gomez used their speed on the bases to score two runs each.
Felipe Echarte has been coaching in Fort Lauderdale Little League for nine years. Both he and his brother Andres have enjoyed recent success with their teams. Felipe won the minor division championship last season and Andres enjoyed successful years with a District 10 Coach Pitch championship and a State of Florida 10U title in 2021.
“The Gators were definitely the team to beat coming into the playoffs,” Felipe said. “Every team was competitive during the regular season, and we had good games. Facing off against my brother was more difficult for my mom and dad. It was fun and the kids had a good time with it. A lot of kids on both teams are friends and they have been playing with each other for a long time. We knew it would be interesting.”
The ability to throw strikes proved to be the difference in the Sewer Rats playoff run. In the last four games, the pitchers combined for a 72% strike percentage and walked only three batters in 24 innings combined. The team finished the season with a 14-4 record.
“Our kids played hard and finished the season on a strong note,” he said. “All our coaches did a great job with the players and got them peaking at the right time.”
Both Felipe and Andres will be busy coaching in the upcoming District 10 All Star tournament where their loyalties will be with each other.
The championship Sewer Rats roster featured Hadley Connors, John Eacobacci, Benjamin Echarte, Sebastian Echarte, Preston Faltz, Dylan Gomez, Louis Letourneau, Jack Melnicoff, James Melnicoff, John Metzger, Peter Metzger, Chase Thomas, and coaches Felipe Echarte, Jack Melnicoff, Barry Connors and John Thomas.
