St. Thomas Advances To Regional Finals

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By the looks on the player’s faces, one might not have known which team had won.

The official final score was 4-2 in favor of host St. Thomas Aquinas, as the Raiders defeated rival Nova in Tuesday’s 7A regional semifinal played at Ed Waters Field at St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale. The route by which the final outcome unfolded came as a result of circumstances that left both sides feeling frustration and disappointment afterwards.

The Titans rallied back in the top of the seventh inning to take the lead, before a pounding rain storm halted play and left the field underwater and unplayable. Down to its final strike with the tying run on base, Nova’s Jose Oliva hit a home run to deep center field to put the Titans ahead with the biggest hit the program has seen in years. It was the final pitch thrown on the night, but one that officially never happened.

Due to the weather interruption the game was reverted back to its last full inning of play, per FHSAA state guidelines. This decision meant the Raiders (22-4) emerged victorious and advanced to a road meeting with Royal Palm Beach in a 7A regional championship on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Nova saw its season end in heartbreaking fashion.

It was an outcome that left both Managers feeling remorse and frustration for the kids. Rather than leave it up to a state rule book, both St. Thomas Manager Troy Cameron and Nova Manager Pat McQuaid echoed the sentiment that they would prefer to let the kids decide the game out on the field.

“Who knows if we would have got the last three outs in the seventh inning, but you hope you would have,” McQuaid said. “At least we wanted the opportunity to try and close them out. It’s not fair, but sometimes life isn’t fair. It’s a learning lesson for the kids, and I’m proud of them. What more can you say? We’re disappointed and it’s a stupid rule. When you get into the playoffs you need to finish the game. Hopefully the state looks at that and decides we should, because you are taking something away from the kids.”

Cameron and the Raiders were not gloating over the win. In such a storied rivalry that saw another excellent game played between the two clubs, St. Thomas also wanted to see it decided out on the field.

“That kid got that big hit right there at the end, and obviously you tip your hat,” Cameron said. “That is a heck of a hit with two outs and two strikes, and it is what every little kid dreams about. Coming up big in a situation like that in a regional semifinal in a big rivalry with us and Nova, I hate to see it end the way that it did. I would have loved to pick this up and play tomorrow. We have the top of our order coming up, and I like our chances of scoring two runs and leaving them out on the field. If they can get the three outs then they deserve it. So, it is not the way you draw it up and we’re not very excited about it.”

Down by two after the Raiders added an insurance run when Carter White walked and later scored on a throwing error in the bottom of the sixth, the Titans (17-8) refused to stop believing they could answer back. Edwin Pichardo got things going with a liner to the left field corner for a leadoff double, before advancing to third on a ground out from Shane Rowe. After a strikeout that brought things one out from a conclusion, Austin Davis lined a single to left field to drive home Pichardo and bring Oliva to the plate.

Oliva fell behind in the count and was down 1-2 when he got his pitch. The left fielder jumped on a fastball and drove it deep to center field for a go-ahead, two-run home run that had Nova up 5-4.

“My kids competed to the last out all year, and I’m so proud of them,” McQuaid said. “The kids competed in the ball game and they have been a special group of kids. Last week they were down 3-1 and came back, and today they were down 4-2 and they came back again.”

Immediately following the dramatic home run, the rain heavily intensified and forced both teams off the field. After a lengthy delay that left most of the infield underwater, the ruling was made.

While the unique circumstances determined the victor, there is no questioning that the Raiders did their part to put themselves in position for the win. Cameron admitted he would have liked to see a bit more offense from his guys, but that he was pleased with how they were able to do some of the little things to score some runs.

Leading the way for the St. Thomas offense was center fielder Jawuan Harris, who scored three runs and wrecked havoc all night long. Harris walked in each of his first two plate appearances, and both times he followed that up by stealing both second and third base to put himself ninety feet from home plate. Nick Marchese drove Harris home in the first when he sat back on a pitch and deposited an RBI double into right field, and Gary Mattis plated Harris with a sacrifice flyout to right field to tie the game in the bottom of the third.

As big as those plays all were, it was Harris’ third time to the plate that proved to be the biggest difference. With the game tied at 2-2, Harris jumped on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the fifth and blasted it deep over the right field fence for a solo home run that ultimately proved to be the difference in the game.

“Jawuan Harris was the difference-maker tonight,” Cameron said. “He has been that way the whole season. To have somebody with his talent and skill-set on the team certainly gives you an opportunity to make something out of nothing. That is what he does and he had a heck of a game. He hit the snot out of it there; he squared that ball up and that ball got out of here in a hurry. He’s been our sparkplug, so it didn’t shock me for him to come up with that big hit at that time.”

The Titans got several big hits of their own on the night. After falling behind in the first, Nova answered back to jump ahead 2-1 in the top of the third. Pichardo lined a one-out single up the middle, Rowe walked and James Spatafora was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Davis then jumped on a 1-0 offering and lined it to right field to drive in two runners and put Nova ahead.

The seesaw scoring matched the same intensity with which the entire game was played. Both sides also had several big plays on defense, and many times players leapt and dove after balls trying to make plays on line drives. The contest was played with the intensity of any playoff baseball game, and perhaps just a bit more so due to the intense nature of this great rivalry.

Not to be lost amidst everything else was the respect each side also showed for the other. While they may battle like bitter enemies on the field, there is also a large amount of respect the two programs have for one another. Remorse and empathy was evident on the faces of the St. Thomas players after they learned of the ruling that determined things, and no one was celebrating or relishing in the victory that came as such a tough reality for an opponent that had also made the plays it needed to win. The Raiders also showed a touch of class when the game announcer offered a special welcome to Coach McQuaid’s wife prior to the start of play, as Mrs. McQuaid was able to attend after having missed the previous few games due to a serious health scare.

For the Titans, the way the devastated players conducted themselves in defeat set the greatest example of all. The players accepted the ruling with dignity, and left the field together heads high and without animosity. In their hearts the Titans knew they had made the plays to give themselves a chance for the win, but they accepted that the result was what it was and it was not in their hands in the end.

Coach McQuaid concludes his 42nd year at the helm of his program, and his 2015 group made him proud to show that they can uphold the high standard by which he expects from all of his Titans even in the most devastating of moments.

“We try to do everything first class,” McQuaid said. “We tell the kids that this isn’t going to be the worst thing that happens in your life, but they have got to be proud of what they did. They worked hard and I want my kids to be first class. There is no reason not to. Still, when it comes down to it, it is high school baseball. I was proud of the way my kids handled themselves during the game and after the game. There might be a lot of other people that don’t handle themselves that way.”

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