Archbishop McCarthy’s Nick Travieso No-Hits Gulliver Prep

There’s nothing that says it is almost playoff baseball more than going to an Archbishop McCarthy game at this time of year. No matter how difficult the Mavericks’ schedule is during the season, by the time playoff season rolls around, Archbishop is usually ready to go. The team showed that quality again Friday night with a 2-0 win over Gulliver Prep.

Facing nationally ranked teams is nothing new for the Mavericks. This season alone, they have played ranked teams from Maryland and Oklahoma, and their stiffest competition has come from their county neighbors down in Miami-Dade. Friday night, Archbishop sent senior Nick Travieso to the mound against the Raiders, and Travieso delivered possibly the best pitching performance of the season.

The University of Miami signee took a perfect game into the sixth inning and finished with a no-hitter, striking out nine along the way. A pair of errors and a hit batter allowed for the only base-runners of the night for Gulliver.

All season, Travieso has been in the spotlight when he has taken the mound. Major League scouts have flocked to Mavericks games to see the right arm of Travieso, and Friday night, the senior gave the scouts something to think about in the upcoming draft. Travieso’s fastball was consistently at 94-95, and he actually topped out at 99 on several pitches.

“What?,” said a clearly stunned Travieso when asked what it feels like to throw a 99 mph fastball. “99? Wow. I’ve never done that in my life. I guess that’s an amazing feeling. I didn’t even know that happened until right now.”

While he was stunned at his own accomplishment, Travieso, always the team player and emotional leader of the Mavericks, quickly deferred to his teammates.

“It’s great that happened, but I’m really not throwing for the scouts right now, I’m throwing for my teammates. We are almost at playoff time, and this was a great team win tonight. Our only goal is to get back to the states and hopefully win another state title. Everything else is secondary.”

Gulliver Prep’s Ivan Pelaez may not have matched Travieso on the radar gun, but he was equally up to the task of keeping the Mavericks off the scoreboard. Archbishop was held scoreless for the first three innings and scratched a run across in the fourth. A one-out single by Brandon Roberts, followed by a stolen base, brought up Brian Gonzalez. The sophomore came clutch, delivering a two-out single to give the Mavericks the lead.

That lead grew to 2-0 in the fifth after Travieso singled to lead-off the inning. Travieso moved to second on an error and was removed for a courtesy runner. Eddie Silva moved the runner to third on a groundout to second, playing the type of fundamentally sound baseball that has helped Archbishop win 11 of their past 12 games. Catcher Mike Hernandez then drove in the second run of the game.

“No doubt about it,” said Mavericks head coach Rich Bielski, when asked if Silva’s groundout was a key part of Friday’s win. “He didn’t get the bunt down on the first two strikes, but he kept battling, and he hit the ball to the right side, and that’s what it’s about. Ask any coach, and they’ll tell you its all about fundamentals and execution.”

Although Gulliver lost, the team gained more valuable experience playing in a playoff atmosphere against a quality opponent.

“These games prepare us for what is coming at the end of the year,” Gulliver head coach Javy Rodriguez said. “Facing a guy like Nick, those are the type guys we’re going to face in the playoffs, so we got to be ready to go. I thought we played pretty good defense and pitched well tonight, but one thing we have to do moving forward is put the ball in play offensively.”

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