Game Of The Week Preview: Somerset At McCarthy

Friday is Valentine’s Day, but you’ll forgive the Archbishop McCarthy Mavericks if they don’t exactly show some love to the Somerset Academy Panthers that night.

The Mavs won’t be all lovey dovey with revenge on their minds as they host the Panthers in the first High School Baseball Network Broward Game of the Week this season at 7 p.m. Friday.

McCarthy will be looking to avenge last year’s late-season 5-1 loss to Somerset. To tune up for the Panthers, the Mavs will host North Broward Prep in the season opener Tuesday. The Eagles are another of the few Broward programs that has been able to defeat the Mavericks in recent history.

The Mavericks are going into this season with the goal of winning their fifth consecutive state championship, something that’s never been accomplished by another team. Senior leadership is the team’s biggest strength with 13 of them guiding the way.

Last year’s ace Brian Gonzalez returns to lead McCarthy from the mound. He’s joined by a bevy of experienced pitchers who helped make last season so special. Among them is Andres Nunez, who was the pitcher the night McCarthy made history with its fourth consecutive state title as the Mavericks beat Mosley 5-2.

While McCarthy gears up for another solid season, the Panthers also are planning on a successful year as they return a core of six seniors who will be focused on improving on a 12-15 season in 2013.

Junior Mike Van Degna, a first baseman who has been on the team for four years, hit .257 with 16 runs and 15 RBIs last year, and senior outfielder Yoni Rodriguez hit .293 as they represent the most experienced hitters in the Panthers’ lineup.

The Panthers are bolstered by an influx of transfers. They include two sets of brothers — Derek and Carlos Cartaya from Monsignor Pace, and Christian and Jack Khawly, who moved over from West Broward. Former Pembroke Pines Charter starters Alejandro Kan, P.J. Ximinies and Mark Bejar also joined the team, as well as former Cooper City Cowboys Juan Teixiera and David Guadalupe. Anthony Molina, formerly of American Heritage, also is new to the team.

The Panthers are solid on the mound as they return Ben Hoffman, John Ham, Matthew Mogilevsky and Casey Garcia, and have been boosted by the addition of Kan, Ximinies and Molina. Senior lefty Hoffman will lead the group, seeking to build off a junior year in which he was 2-2 with a 3.28 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched. Molina is one of the top-rated college prospects of the 2016 graduating class, throwing 92 to 95 mph while consistently tossing strikes.

Somerset is one of seven teams that will be vying for a playoff spot in arguably the toughest district in Broward and one of the toughest in the state. Somerset’s district foes include Coral Springs Charter, Calvary Christian, North Broward Prep, University School, Chaminade-Madonna and Pine Crest.

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