Mavericks On The Verge Of History After Semifinal Win

State Semifinal Photo Gallery

Following Wednesday’s 7-0 victory over Edgewater in the 6A state semifinal, the Archbishop McCarthy baseball team finds itself on the verge of history.

On Thursday night the Mavericks will face Mosley in the 6A title game at jetBlue Park that will conclude the 2013 state tournament. Should they win that game, they will become the first Florida program to ever win four straight state titles.

Until Thursday night comes, the team is going to take this chance and enjoy this last great leg of the amazing journey that this program has been so fortunate to enjoy over these last few years.

“Years down the road everybody always talks about the good old days. This is the good old days; we are in the good old days right now,” said Mavericks Manager Rich Bielski. “So we’re going to enjoy it and we’re just having such a great time. We’re so excited. It’s a big-league experience for this week. For this week we get to be big-leaguers, we really do.”

The experience to compete in a Major League stadium as impressive as jetBlue Park has been the reward for each and every team that was blessed to take their season this far.

Even as this is the fifth straight year that the Mavericks (25-5) have been included in that group, this season marks their first chance to play on this field after the venue was moved here from Port St. Lucie this season.

“We’re so excited for an opportunity to play on such a beautiful field with such history,” said Coach Bielski. “We’re trying to give them a little bit of the history of the park. The scoreboard came from Fenway Park itself, and they flew it down. It’s just like playing at Fenway; it really is. It’s beautiful and we’re very blessed.”

Such blessings are not lost on the McCarthy players either.

“Coach is always saying to make lifetime memories with these moments,” said junior starting pitcher Brian Gonzalez, the victor in Wednesday’s semifinal. “It’s special walking on that grass and going out to that bullpen and just looking at the Green Monster, and just soaking it all in. It’s really something to cherish.”

It was this same bullpen that first baseman Aaron Soto bounced a ground-rule double into in the fifth inning, putting runners on second and third after Gonzalez walked ahead of him and was replaced by courtesy runner Andres Matouk.

“It was amazing to play here,” said senior catcher Michael Hernandez. “This is a brand new stadium, and I just think that Big Papi and Mike Napoli play here. It’s just an amazing feeling to know you’re playing on the same field as those guys.”

Just as David Ortiz has done for the Boston Red Sox so many times before in these same situations, Hernandez ripped an RBI single in that fifth inning to drive home Matouk for McCarthy’s final run of the contest.

“It’s an once-in-a-lifetime chance,” said second baseman Blade Bielski. “You’re going into the batter’s box and you’re looking at the Green Monster and you’re like ‘this is what big-leaguers look at’. It’s a dream of all of ours, just a dream to play on this field.”

Standing in the left side of the batter’s box and staring down at the coveted Green Monster that just seems to tempt any and every hitter to swing for it, Bielski knew even before he took his first at-bat that he would not get a chance to accept such a challenge just yet.

Instead, he would ignite the Mavericks offense with a hit that is everything the opposite of that.

Hernandez and right fielder Ryan Sinzenich both walked leading off the bottom of the third to bring the nine-hole hitter Blade to the plate.

“I knew I was going to be asked to bunt as soon as the first two guys got on. Its classic baseball and it’s going to happen,” said Blade. “The pitcher was good and he had been working everybody away, so it was just easier to go down to third base. The third baseman was playing back so when I put it down I knew I had a real good shot of being safe.”

Blade laid down a great drag-bunt that rolled along the third baseline and allowed him to race safely to first base even against the drawn-in defense, thus turning the lineup back to the top of the order with the bases loaded and no outs.

“We’ve had a lot of success come from the bottom of the lineup this year,” Blade said. “A lot of times we’ll lead off and our 1-2-3 hitters will become the clean-up guys that will drive us in. I like starting things; I get people excited. I feel like in that inning, pretty much everybody knew we were going to start it. It’s a good feeling because once we start scoring runs we are one of those teams that we’re tough to stop.”

Truer words were never spoken.

The Mavericks batted around the order in the inning, putting six run on the boards in a monster frame that essentially put the game away.

Third baseman Jonathan Quintana got the scoring started by driving a shot deep to center field for a sacrifice flyout that drove in Dylan Bautista, who had come in to run for Hernandez.

After a wild pitch moved both runners up into scoring position, left fielder Michael Gigliotti took his turn and lined a shot into right field to plate Sinzenich and put runners on the corners.

Next came center fielder Brandon Vicens, who ripped a double past third base to score Blade and push the lead to 3-0, while also knocking Eagles starter Troy Hamner out of the game in the process.

Gonzalez took first stabs at reliever Cole Sorville, touching him for a two-RBI single that sailed to the Green Monster. Matouk came on to run for Gonzalez, and quickly put those legs to use to cross the diamond on an RBI single through the left side off of the bat of shortstop Eddie Silva.

“It was a big third inning for us,” Coach Bielski admitted. “We came out that inning and got a couple of guys on base, and Blade had a great drag-bunt that loaded the bases. It really energized us to score a lot of runs and have a big inning there.”

Gonzalez had been shaky through his first few innings in allowing the Eagles (24-6) to get guys on base in each of the first three frames. When his offense staked him with a big lead, the lefty settled in and kept the door tightly shut to keep Edgewater from making any kind of a run to get back into it.

“Those six runs were huge,” Gonzalez said. “As a pitcher, that’s all you can ask for. You feel more relaxed and the pressure is a little let off. You just try to pound the strike zone and try to get fly balls and groundouts. They have a tough lineup so I just wanted to go out there and pound the zone. My catcher Mikey really controlled me. He told me to change my eyesight and I’ll be fine. I didn’t have my good stuff today, but all they asked for me was to battle.”

Even if their ace felt less than confident in his pitches than usual, his team and coaches did not. They knew they had the right guy on the mound to start things off in this state tournament.

“This was Brian’s game. We really counted on him to go out and get this game for us,” said Coach Bielski. “With Edgewater being such a good club we didn’t want to take any chances and go with anything but our best at this point. We want to go out and win this game. Brian’s so big and strong and dominating; he was the right man for the job.”

Gonzalez grew more and more confident with each pitch, and even though Edgewater still managed to put runners on base in every inning against him, none ever made it around and back to the plate.

“It was special pitching on that mound,” said Gonzalez, who improved to 11-0. “You are just out there and it’s like ‘wow, I’m pitching in a big-league stadium’. Not too many teams are blessed with the opportunity so we just soak it all in.”

One thing that has grown to become a staple of McCarthy baseball is the incredible defense that they play day in and day out. In seemingly every contest the team almost seems to need at least one big defensive moment that sparks them.

With Edgewater left fielder Jacob Sithong on first base with two outs in the top of the third inning, that moment arrived.

Sithong broke for second base on a steal attempt as Gonzalez began his wind-up, but the lefty caught on to the move and quickly gunned the ball to Soto at first, who then fired it to Silva at second in time to put down the tag that ended the inning.

For anyone who knows Mavericks baseball, it was not coincidence that the team got the bats going in the bottom half of that frame. Nor was it happenstance that Gonzalez settled in after that to look and throw more like the ace the team knows he is.

“That out was huge,” agreed Gonzalez, who was grateful that he executed with his second chance after falling short on a similar situation an inning prior. “The first one I threw away, and that was my fault. So the second time I made sure to throw it over; and Soto made a good play to get the out. That was huge. I just remember relaxing and calming down after that.”

Gonzalez has been a rock for this team all year long, a composed and polished leader who never gets rattled and sets a tone of confidence and determination.

“Brian’s been amazing all season for us; he’s been our horse,” Coach Bielski said. “We know when he has the ball we’ve got an excellent chance of winning. He went out there and challenged their hitters. They had an excellent lineup; and they had several hitters who we had to be really careful with. He came out throwing a little high, but he made the adjustments and that’s what it takes. It’s a game of adjustments and he was able to do that. He’s put us in a great position for Thursday.”

Although undoubtedly every Maverick player is chomping at the bit at this great chance they have earned for themselves, perhaps none are as excited and grateful than their catcher Hernandez. As the only four-year player on this year’s team, the senior standout has the unique and incredible chance to win a state title in each of the four years of his high school baseball career.

“It’s very exciting, and no one else has done that, so it would be history,” Hernandez said. “I’ve got to give credit to my team. Throughout the years we’ve had quality teams. We’ve had guys get drafted and we’ve had juniors step up like these guys here. From my perspective I just want to be a leader for my team so we can win a championship.”

Coach Bielski referred to this squad as a junior-laden team, and one that is typically considered young. For the players and coaches blessed to be a part of this page in the Mavericks’ history, the drive comes not in making history but simply in winning a title that still feels like the first one they’ve ever chased down.

“Many of these guys were a part of last year’s championship. They’ve piled up before; they’ve been here and they know what its like,” said Coach Bielski. “Throughout our program we make the young guys watch and learn. They want to be part of it so badly that they just work so hard in the offseason. They just do whatever it takes to get bigger, stronger and faster; and they work to get themselves into the lineup to contribute. That’s exactly what happens year after year; they see the way it’s done and they want to be a part of it. It’s a testament to how much hard work goes into it.”

Having now arrived at that final coveted stop, the Mavericks can finally look towards the chances they have to make Florida history.

“We’re not asking any of the boys to be Superman,” said Coach Bielski. “We just want them to do their job and do it well. Do it with as much passion and excellence as they can, and be as unselfish as possible. We all win, we all get rings, or else nobody does. That’s what it’s all about this time of year.”

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