Archbishop McCarthy Pounds Out Big Win Over Pace

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It is almost that time of year again.

Wednesday night’s friendly rivalry in Miami Gardens provided baseball enthusiasts a sneak peek at the 2015 playoffs. Monsignor Pace played host to Archbishop McCarthy in the latest installment of a long and exciting series history. With the season rapidly hurtling towards the start of the playoffs, the game took on added intensity as both sides used the quality competition as a litmus test.

The final result favored Mavericks fans, as McCarthy pulled away late for a 9-4 victory. After the Spartans inched within two runs, the Mavericks added on four runs in the top of the seventh to put things away. Dylan Bautista had a two-RBI single that scored Alex Toral and also sent home AJ Hendricks for his second run of the night. Kobe Lopez drove in Bautista, and Alex Carballo singled in Adan Fernandez to seal the game’s fate in the seventh.

In many ways, both McCarthy Manager Rich Bielski and Pace skipper Tom Duffin seemed to agree that the game was won and lost much earlier on. Just like both can expect to see once district tournaments begin, the margin of error was small and little things along the way proved to make huge differences in the end result. With two strong teams facing off, momentum constantly shifted and remained up for grabs for the first few innings. Both sides wrestled for that tide to shift in their favor, and once the Mavericks succeeded with that it seemed to stay in their corner.

“A win against any good team like Monsignor Pace brings us a bunch of momentum and courage for all of our young guys,” McCarthy senior Jake Anchia said. “In a big rivalry like this, when you win it just gives you tons of confidence.”

Anchia helped turn the game in the second. The catcher led off with a solo home run to left field to put the Mavericks (17-3) on the board with a lead they would never surrender.

“I just worked the count and got it in my favor at 3-1, and then I got the pitch I liked and put a good swing on it,” Anchia said. “It was a line drive that went over the short fence in left field.”

An inning later Anchia came back up with two ducks on the pond, and he poked a single to right field to send home Carballo and Toral. Hendricks came on to run for the veteran backstop, and he scored on an RBI single from Fred Matos.

Those runs proved to be all that Mavericks starter Daniel Federman needed. The right-hander was strong on the mound, pounding the zone on 62 of his 83 pitches.

“Fed was amazing on the mound,” said Bielski. “For a tenth-grader to go out there and just dominate the way he did, to throw all three pitches for strikes in this atmosphere, I am just very proud of him. He works so hard and he had a tremendous outing tonight.”

Federman allowed three earned runs on six hits and a walk, and he struck out six. The sophomore recognized the contributions around him and how it helped him to succeed on the mound.

“It’s real easy to pitch when you have a lineup like that behind you,” Federman admitted. “Against a good team like that we put the ball in play, and good things are going to happen. When you have Jake back there, it is really easy to throw to him. Coach Alex and all of the coaches just know what they are calling, and they were really smart with that. It’s easy to pitch when you have such a good defense behind you. The whole game they just made our plays and did what we are supposed to do.”

While McCarthy had a lot of big plays in key moments, Bielski and the coaches knew it was far from a flawless performance.

“We had poor base-running tonight, and we were very fortunate that it didn’t cost us,” Bielski said. “Out of the first seven outs, six of them were on the bases. So that is something we have to improve. You saw some of the rookie mistakes that we made tonight, and it was a good opportunity for us to concentrate on our base-running to make sure it is ready to go for the playoffs.”

Both clubs currently sit at the top of the district standings in their respective districts. Coming off some tough opposition during Spring Break in the HSBN March Madness Shootout, both teams know the schedule only keeps getting harder the rest of the way.

“Every year we put one of the toughest schedules together, and they do as well,” Spartans Manager Tom Duffin said. “The thing is we always want to play these games as things are getting closer to the district tournament, and you want to see where you stand and how you face. You want to play the best competition right now, because if you are not playing your best you could be taken by surprise by anybody.”

While these two teams may not take one another by surprise, they can always trust that they are going to see one another’s best. It is a game both sides always want to win, and it is the closest it can come to feeling like the playoffs on the first day of April.

“I think a lot of teams are doing the same thing and really trying to backload their schedule with tough games against tough teams that are going to prepare you for the playoffs,” Bielski said. “So this was a perfect playoff atmosphere tonight. Tommy always has a great team over here; they always play very hard. We’re very blessed to come out with a great performance by our hitters.”

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