MIAMI, AZ — It was just a normal game day for Rico Lorona and the Miami High School baseball team, when all of a sudden, Lorona heard what he said sounded like a transformer blow up.
“I heard a loud boom, and I thought maybe somebody was shooting off a firework or something. I didn’t… wasn’t paying attention. Um, I proceeded to do our lineup card, and about five minutes later, we had our other coach, Jojo… JoJo, he came up and said, ‘Hey, coach, you see that over there? I think a transformer just blew up on the pole.’ And so, about that time, I turned around and I could see just a big ball of smoke,” Lorona recalled.
That’s when some of his players ran over to help put out the fire.
“Me and my boy Bradley were running up there, and we’re the first ones on scene. And I was like, man, the fire started getting even bigger. And I was like, ‘Should we go tell the lady?’ And everyone was like, ‘I don’t know that’s pretty scary.’ But, me and my boy Dre, we had no fear!” one of the players explained.
The boys then knocked on the door and let the homeowner know that a fire had broken out on her property. Lorona says the woman told them she was working from home and had her headphones on. So, she had no idea there was a fire.
“We ran up there and knocked on her door, and she came and answered. Yeah, that was pretty crazy. But, we rescued her and her dog, too!” the players said.
First responders showed up, and they were able to put the flames out. Eventually, the other homeowner came to the baseball game to make sure the team was properly thanked.
“He was almost in tears. I mean, for us to be in the middle of a game and him to come over and want to give thanks to our boys… the first thing he said was, make sure you tell those boys that saved my house and give them, give them some recognition,” Lorona said.
Lorona tells us he’s proud of his team and how they stepped up in those moments.
“It was kind of a really big event for these kids, you know, because kind of what we talk about is not just being good on the baseball field, it’s being, you know, good citizens,” Lorona added.
Later this month, the team is being honored by the mayor of Miami for their brave actions that day.
