St. Thomas Edges Nova To Claim The District Title

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In playoff baseball every out, every pitch and every moment is magnified. The stakes are raised and the games are much more intense. When Nova and St. Thomas Aquinas face one another, this is already the case.

In another chapter of one of Broward County’s greatest rivalries of all time, these two teams met once again to battle for a district title. Facing off at Len Koch Field at South Broward High on Friday night, the two clubs again delivered a tight and competitive show for all the fans in the stands. Behind a dominant pitching performance, St. Thomas prevailed 4-1 to claim its second consecutive 7A-15 district title.

“Nova, St. Thomas; for us it doesn’t get any bigger or better in terms of excitement for a game,” St. Thomas Manager Troy Cameron said. “Obviously we have played in bigger games this year going to the USA Tournament this spring. But it doesn’t matter how much bigger and better you think you are; whenever you play Nova it’s going to be a good game and you just never know what is going to happen. Tonight was another one of those games.”

St. Thomas (20-4) has earned the right to host the opening round of the regional playoffs, where it will host 7A-16 runners-up Westland Hialeah in the regional quarterfinals Thursday night. The Titans (16-7) also advance to the regional playoffs, where they will travel to face defending 7A state champion American on Thursday afternoon in Hialeah.

Raiders’ starter Jordan Spicer pitched into the seventh inning before allowing his first hit of the night, a liner to left field from Nova center fielder Jose Oliva. The right-hander had battled throughout the night, striking out five while allowing two walks and one earned run.

“I had to come out and do my job,” Spicer said. “I struggled to throw strikes consistently and it was hard. But in a big game against Nova I had to step up and my players had my back after I gave up the one run. My players did their job and they won the game. Hats off to them; they played awesome today. My defense, my catcher, coaching, everything was 100% perfect today.”

With Spicer’s pitch count up following the single, St. Thomas went to the bullpen for sophomore sensation Johnny Leone. Leone managed to get a ground ball that the Raiders’ defense converted into a 4-6-3 double play, and another grounder to shortstop Gary Mattis for the final putout that ended the contest.

Raiders Pitching Coach Tim McNab had let the young right-hander know that he would be the first guy out of the pen on Friday, and he had prepared himself all week to be ready if that moment arrived. When his time came, Leone was his usual composed self. He needed just six pitches to close out the victory for Spicer and his team, while picking up the save for himself.

“Spice did his job the whole entire game, and I knew when I was in that pen warming up that when my name was called I was going to do my job just like he did,” Leone said. “I had faith in every one of my players. Nova hit the ball on the ground and they made the plays, so hats off to them for that.”

Leone was honored that his team had so much confidence to trust the youngest guy on the roster with the task of picking up the final crucial outs. While the young hurler has proven his mettle with a strong season, he could not help but give thanks to all the support he has received this year.

“Growing up during the season and having Spice and Nick Marchese and all of our pitching staff, I have grown up with them and they have taught me so much,” Leone said. “I have learned a lot from them and a lot from Tim, and they have made my job a lot easier when I have Tim calling pitches. Plus, having a catcher like Anthony Mulrine makes it so much easier. He blocks everything back there.”

Even despite earning his second straight victory in the district championship, Spicer also agreed that it was more a credit to the guys playing behind him. Nova opened the scoring with a run in the top of the third, and threatened to break things wide open. Vince Coletti walked and was replaced by courtesy-runner Matthew Patella, who stole second base on the first pitch to Shane Rowe. Rowe moved him to third on a sacrifice bunt, and Scott Shaw pushed him home on a fielder’s choice.

Edwin Pichardo moved Rowe into scoring position with another sacrifice bunt, and Marcos Villanueva walked to keep things going. But the St. Thomas defense came up with the final out of the frame on a pop up to third baseman Daniel Lowry.

“It is nine verse one out there, and I have 100% confidence in every one of my fielders,” Spicer said. “If they hit the ball and put it in play I know they are going to give me some sort of defensive effort out of it. I have faith in all my boys so that I know if I don’t have all of my stuff where I want it to be, I have to settle down and maybe take a little bit off. I have to throw more strikes and let them hit the ball.”

The Raiders responded right back in the bottom of the third to score all of their runs. Cameron Krzeminski reached on a fielder’s choice, Juwaun Harris walked and Gary Mattis was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Alex Dickinson worked a walk that tied the contest, and Nick Marchese broke things open with a liner to left field that plated two base runners. Carter White later added a sacrifice flyout to left field to drive in Dickinson and give St. Thomas a comfortable cushion.

St. Thomas has been on a mission this season to return to the state championship, and Friday’s accomplishment was a big piece along that path. With this part now behind them, the Raiders can begin to look ahead towards the next challenge.

“The district championship is step one,” Cameron said. “These guys set some goals before the beginning of the season and they want to get back over to jetBlue Park like we were two years ago. But you have to go in steps and this is step one, so we are excited to get this one under our belt. Any time you beat Nova it’s a good day.”

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