Heritage Rides Big Lead To Quarterfinal Victory

5A Regional Quarterfinals Gallery
American Heritage came out aggressive from the first pitch Thursday, not wasting any time building a big lead en route to a 7-0 win over Suncoast in a 5A regional quarterfinal.

Justin Lamazares hit an RBI single to center field to bring in Luis Almanzar for the Patriots’ first run. Two batters later, David Villar, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run, homered to center field, scoring courtesy runner Alfree Soto. Joe Perez added an RBI single to score Jacob Pino.

“We jumped ahead early and then keep the pressure on them the rest of the night,” said Heritage Manager Bruce Aven, whose team will host Archbishop McCarthy in a regional semifinal on Tuesday.

Heritage (20-7) tacked on run in the sixth when Julio Cortez hit a two-run home run that also scored Joe Perez, who went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs.

The Patriots scored one more run in the sixth on Joe Perez’s home run.

“Our hitters had a good approach at the plate. My pitchers pounded the strike zone all night,” Aven said.

Now all eyes turn to Tuesday’s showdown between the Patriots and Mavericks (23-5), a much-anticipated fourth matchup between the teams. McCarthy won the first two by a run (8-7 and 3-2) before Heritage won 9-2 in the district final.

“There are no secrets,” Aven said. “We know them, and they know us. They are a good team.”

Suncoast Manager Brook Cross had a positive take-away from Thursday’s loss.

“We came up short tonight, but I’m proud of my guys,” he said. “We ran in to a very good American Heritage team, and they outplayed us. That’s just how it goes sometimes. It just wasn’t our night.”

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