Spring Chickens: Young McCarthy Team Defeats Gibbons

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This is the year. That is the rallying cry for other teams that are looking to knock Archbishop McCarthy off their perch of being the best team in Broward over the past five years. After a four year state championship run came to an end last season, and with all major contributors to their last state title having graduated, this was the year opponents pointed to as the one where McCarthy could be had.

Somewhere along the way, however, the critics forgot to realize that this is a program that does not go quietly into the night, they reload.

So on Tuesday night, a young Mavericks team, with three sophomores in their lineup, sent a clear message, as they defeated district rival Cardinal Gibbons 7-1. The win was keyed by Junior Kobe Lopez, who singled three times, stole two bases, and had the key two-RBI hit in the second inning that started the ball rolling for the Mavericks.

“We may be young, but our goal is still the same as the teams that came before us, to get to states and win it,” said Lopez. “We still have a lot to get better at, but it’s a good sign that we tend to play our best games against good teams, and that is a good team over there that we played tonight.”

Gibbons came into the game having dropped their first three games, but they sent ace Nate Pawelczyk to the mound to try and slow a Mavericks team that had won their first two games by a combined 22-1 score.

Pawelczyk was sharp early, but the Archbishop bats broke through in the second inning. Mavericks starting pitcher Christian Demby began the rally with a single. After Adan Fernandez reached on an infield error, and promptly stole second, Fred Matos walked, setting the stage for Lopez. After working the count full, Lopez lined a bll up the middle, scoring pinch-runner Joey Thompson and Fernandez.

“That was a big at-bat for us,” said Mavericks Manager Rich Bielski. “Kobe did a nice job of working the count and coming through with a big two-out hit. That was one of many two-out hits we had tonight, and that was the difference in the game.”

In the fourth inning, the Archbishop bats came awake. Sending 10 batters to the plate, the Mavericks scored five runs, seemingly putting the game out of reach. The big blows came off the bats of AJ Hendricks, who hit a two-RBI triple, and Jake Anchia, who blasted a towering two-run home run to left-center. It was an inning straight out of the Archbishop offensive mold, keep applying pressure until the big inning occurs.

“That has always been our philosophy, to put as much pressure on the other team as possible,” said Bielski. “We were aggressive, and we like what we see from these young guys. There is a lot of talent out there. They are young, but they are talented.”

Bielski and his staff knew there were going to be some growing pains this season, and there was evidence of those growing pains on Tuesday night. The Mavericks had a runner picked off, and an uncharacteristic three errors in the game.

“We spoke as a coaching staff about being patient with some things that were going to happen this year, Bielski said. “We told them after the game that you’re not always going to play your best game, and that the mark of a good team is to be able to win even when you don’t play your best.”

For Gibbons, Manager Jason Hamilton and his staff will go back to the drawing board after dropping their fourth straight game to start the year. Despite the record, the Chiefs have actually played well against some of the top teams in South Florida in the seasons first two weeks.

“The difference in the game tonight was they battled and had some real good at-bats, and we didn’t,” said Hamilton. “We know we have to get stronger, both physically and mentally if we are going to turn this thing around, and we’ll get right back out there at practice to start cleaning up some of these mistakes we are making.”

Things do not get any easier for Gibbons moving forward, as they face another district foe, American Heritage, on Saturday, before a road trip to traditional Miami powerhouse Belen Jesuit on Tuesday.

McCarthy also faces another district opponent on Thursday, with Pompano coming to town.

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