Despite Loss, Archbishop McCarthy Wins Hearts Of Fallen Officer’s Families

Archbishop McCarthy is coming off a state championship season, but they began this year with consecutive losses in their annual preseason tournament, which ended Friday night. Despite the losses, the school, coaches, players, and fans have plenty to be proud of.

The Mavericks hosted the tournament in honor of the two Miami-Dade officers that were killed in the line of duty while executing a homicide warrant. All proceeds from the entire tournament went to the families of Roger Castillo and Amanda Haworth.

In order to raise as much as possible, McCarthy Coach Rich Bielski brought in some of the best teams in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. American High and Gulliver Prep came up from Miami, and Archbishop was joined in the event by crosstown rival American Heritage.

McCarthy did not fare as well on the field this week as they would have liked, losing a close game to Heritage earlier in the week, and then going down against Gulliver Friday evening 10-1. Gulliver used two doubles and three homers to put away the Mavericks, but clearly the focus of this game was what happened before the players crossed the white lines.

Assistant Coach Alex Fernandez was instrumental in bringing the families of the fallen officers to the field, and Friday evening, Castillo’s three sons Anthony, Brian, and Michael, along with Haworth’s son, Austin and his brother Jordan, threw out simultaneous first pitches.

Archbishop McCarthy’s Garrett Kennedy, Michael Hernandez, and Christopher Guzman were joined by Gulliver Prep players Chris Chinea and Isaias Jasso to receive the first pitches from the boys. Miami-Dade County Police Department Director James Loftus, who has been out in front, detailing the horrific crime committed against the two officers, was also in attendance Friday night. The entire atmosphere of the week was not lost on Coach Bielski.

“Coach Fernandez was very generous in thinking of the officers’ families from Miami, and I think that brought out a lot of people,” said Bielski, speaking about the crowds of over 250 people that showed up each day this week. “I think they saw some good high school baseball. Both teams wore black tonight in remembrance of the slain officers and that had a lot to do with the tone of the evening. It’s heartbreaking to see their young kids come out, we kept their families in mind and we appreciate all the law enforcement officers that keep us safe everyday, and we wish we could do more.”

What the program did do was raise an estimated $5,000 for the families over the past week.

On this night, and throughout the past week, Coach Bielski, his staff, players, parents, fans, and opposing teams did all they could to help the Castillo and Haworth families cope with this horrible tragedy.

At times, high school baseball is about more than just winning and losing, and this was one of those times. So despite a 10-1 loss and a lackluster effort on the field, the Archbishop McCarthy effort off the field should be commended. If this is a preview of what this program has to offer, they will have plenty to be proud of by the time the season comes to an end later this spring.

Leave a comment using your facebook account!