Massaro Guides Nova To Huge Win Over Longtime Nemesis St. Thomas

A year ago on St. Thomas’ field, Alec Byrd owned Nova for six innings before the Titans got to him and turned a near no-hitter into an 11-inning game that St. Thomas ended up winning 6-5.

Tuesday night on the same field, it was the other way around as the Titans battered the St. Thomas ace early and often en route to a 12-0 win in five innings in a District 7A-16 matchup.

While Byrd struggled against a balanced Nova (7-0) lineup, his counterpart, Troy Massaro, was masterful as he cruised through the St. Thomas (5-3) lineup, facing just two batters over the minimum. Massaro struck out eight, walked four and gave up to two hits as he picked up his fourth win of the season.

“Tonight we showed when we play our game, we can beat anyone,” Massaro said. “We’ve been hitting the ball hard every game, and our pitchers have been throwing strikes. You can’t ask for more than that.”

Massaro said he mainly used two pitches to pick through the St. Thomas lineup, giving up a single in the first but not another hit until the fifth.

“I relied on my fastball, but if I needed to, I had confidence to go to my curve,” he said.

The Titans, who improved to 5-0 in the district, did their damage in two innings, a four-run second and a seven-run fourth.

C.J. Chatham flied out to open Nova’s half of the second before Ryan Saxner was hit by a pitch and Dean Perlman singled and eventually came home on a wild pitch. Saxner scored on an error and Gabe Valverde reached base on an error before Tom Corey made it to first on a fielder’s choice to load the bases. Two batters later, Massaro slapped a two-run single to bring home Valverde and Corey.

Byrd appeared to be back in control as he struck out the side in the third, but Nova came on strong in the fourth and tagged him for six more runs before he left the game.

The Titans, who have outscored their competition 69-2 this season, used home runs by Valverde and Chatham as well as doubles by Massaro and Zanis as part of the big fourth inning. Nova also got a sacrifice fly from Trent Monaghan to bring in another run. Monaghan also drove in Nova’s final run of the night in the fifth.

“I can’t explain it,” Nova coach Pat McQuaid said. “Our kids came to play. They didn’t hit fly balls and we did. We’re a fly-ball hitting team. But it’ll be a different game at our place [on March 23]. It was good to see the kids compete tonight, but we’ll see them two, even three more times.”

McQuaid said turning a double play in the first inning was big for his players mentally, especially Massaro, as it allowed them to relax a little.

St. Thomas coach Bobby Lawson didn’t offer any excuses for his team’s lackluster effort and said Nova came ready to play.

“I tip my hat to them,” Lawson said. “They out played us, out pitched us, and they took advantage of our mistakes. That’s a typical Nova performance. We’ve gotta get back to work and get better.”

The Raiders, who are 3-2 in the district along with Plantation, will have some time to regroup before a trip to New Port Richey next week to play Bishop McCaughlin on March 16 and East Lake on March 17.

The Titans, meanwhile, will face Plantation on Thursday before gearing up for their annual Spring Break event, the Titan Classic. The tournament begins Saturday and concludes Tuesday.

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