Chaminade-Madonna Scrapes Past Pope John Paul II

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It has been more than three years since the Chaminade-Madonna Lions made an appearance in the regional playoffs, but after finishing the 2014 season as runner-ups in 4A-14, they’ve finally gotten the opportunity. On Thursday afternoon, they made the most of it by traveling to Pope John Paul II in Boca Raton and toughing out a 3-1 quarterfinal victory against the Eagles.

The Lions played a scrappy brand of baseball, battling at the plate to turn in quality at-bats and putting the pressure on the Eagles defense to force them into mistakes. Those mistakes ultimately accounted for all three Chaminade runs.

Meanwhile, Lions starter Shomari Thomas did everything he needed to on the mound to make sure the three runs gifted to his squad held up, pitching a complete game and allowing just four hits.

“Solid effort,” Chaminade-Madonna Manager Mike Moss said about the win. “Made the plays on defense. Shomari did his job. He’s been outstanding all year. He throws his stuff in there for strikes, makes the other team have to scrap and battle to put the ball in play, and that’s the formula.”

Both Thomas and his mound opponent, Pope John Paul II’s Alex Bialakis, struggled through rough patches in the first inning.

In the top half, Bialakis got himself into trouble by sandwiching a base hit in between a base-on-balls and hit batsman to load the bases with one out. He worked his way out of the jam but not without throwing 30 pitches and expending a lot of energy. Three times in the inning, Lions batters forced Bialakis to throw them seven or more pitches. The walk, which was issued to Shane Stockelman, required nine as the left fielder fouled off three while fighting back from being down 1-2.

For Thomas, it was a different type of trouble in the first. Lead-off man Evan Schaffner hit him hard but right to the center fielder for an out. The next two batters had better luck. Josh Parker and Stephen Gogreve split the the left-center gap for back-to-back doubles that gave the Eagles an early 1-0 lead.

From there though, Thomas settled. He struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning, then initiated a 1-2-3 second with another punch out. In all, he fanned five and gave up just two more hits while walking one to earn the win.

“I’m used to it,” Thomas said about his struggles in the first. “Because during the season, every game, the first inning is always my roughest. So today I was just like, ‘I know I can get through it,’ and I did. Once I got through it, I was just cruising from there.”

The early battles between Bialakis and the Chaminade batters continued throughout the afternoon. Bialakis fought through another seven-pitch at-bat in the second inning before succumbing to Brendan Tuttle and giving up a base hit.

Perhaps the most impressive effort came in the fourth inning, when Chaminade-Madonna’s Mike Ramunno fell behind 0-2 with runners at first and second and none out. He proceeded to take three balls and foul off five more pitches before finally earning the free pass to load the bases.

“We just wanted to try and battle as much as we could,” Moss said about his team’s approach at the plate. “We had some guys who just kept fouling balls off and taking him deep. Had a couple of walks and base runners that way, and hey, that’s the way we have to play. We have to scrap and claw and do what we can on offense and try to come through with a big hit.”

Although not exactly with a big hit, Mike Drag was the player who came through for Chaminade. After Bialakis struck out Tuttle for the second out, Drag hit a grounder to the first baseman, who fielded easily but then opted to throw home for the force rather than attempt the double play. Thomas, the runner on third, beat the throw though, scoring the Lions’ second run and giving them 2-1 edge. The run was unearned as Thomas had reached on a dropped ball in the outfield.

Although not exactly what he had in mind when he stepped to the plate, Drag was nonetheless pleased to knock in the run.

“It was an inside pitch, and I got a little jammed on it,” Drag said. “But I guess I hit it good enough to make them have a little trouble with it. First thing I asked the first-base coach was if we scored the run.”

Despite the high pitch-count, Bialakis had a solid outing. He struck out five and allowed seven hits but was able to escape both of the bases-loaded jams with minimal damage and would not have allowed a run if not for some defensive mistakes behind him.

The Lion’s other two runs both came as a direct result of Eagle errors. In the third, Daniel Vitello singled and stole second then scored when the throw to first on a grounder by Jose Colina went astray. In the top of the seventh, after Bialakis gave way to Daniel Mayer, it was Stockelman’s turn to benefit from an Eagle miscue. He drew a walk and advanced to second on a base hit by Colina. From there he made his own luck by putting the pressure on the Pope defense with an attempted steal of third. The pick-off attempt went awry, allowing him to continue on to home.

The Eagles were were not without opportunities to get back in it, particularly in their last at-bats. With one out. Christopher Graffeo notched his first hit of the night before P.J. Cimo came on as a pinch hitter. Cimo bashed the second pitch he saw over the left field fence but just outside the foul post before going on to strike out. Matthew Luzzi followed with his first hit of the night to put the tying run aboard with two out but Thomas induced a fly out to right field to end the game.

“Like anybody, they’re disappointed right now,” Pope John Paul II Manager Peter Graffeo said. “But I told them it’s just nice to be playing games like these. Playing with that intensity. For some of the young guys that were in the game, it’s a learning experience for them.”

The Eagles squad is a young one, with only one senior among them. As such, their future looks bright.

“We’re bringing back 12 juniors next year,” Graffeo said. “So, I feel good about our team and already told them, let’s start preparing for next year.”

As for the Lions, the win puts them in a regional semifinal next week and gives them another shot at their district rival, North Broward Prep, which beat them in the 4A-14 title game.

Moss could not have planned it better.

“We’ll take it,” Moss said before knowing they’ll be facing North Broward. “I just want to get a shot, hopefully against North Broward. They’re in our district. I’m hoping to play them again and see if we can tee it up one more time.”

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