Archbishop McCarthy Wins 2-0 Shutout Over Flanagan
McCarthy starter Daniel Federman tossed five shutout innings with seven strikeouts to earn the win.
For the last five years local powerhouses Archbishop McCarthy and Flanagan have met up every season as part of the High School Baseball Network Game of the Week series. The annual showdown helps raise money for the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Foundation, while providing local baseball fans an exciting contest between two of the area’s top programs. Flanagan had won the first four meetings, but this year the Mavericks earned one for their side.
Behind a dominant performance on the mound from starter Daniel Federman and reliever Yordani Carmona, host Archbishop McCarthy earned a 2-0 shutout over the Falcons on Thursday night. The Mavericks (17-1) scored both runs in the second inning, and the pitching staff made that slim margin hold up.
“This feels good, especially for me after three years in a row getting tough losses against Flanagan over and over,” senior Alex Toral said. “I came into this game with a chip on my shoulder and I am glad that Fed could throw so spot-up on his pitches, especially against such a good lineup. It wasn’t a perfect one, but it was a good one.”
Federman certainly had his best stuff on Thursday, and he only got stronger as the game went along. The right-hander pounded the zone on both sides of the plate, limiting base runners while keeping himself ahead in most counts and in control. Federman scattered four hits and did not walk anyone, and he struck out seven as 55 of his 76 total pitches found the strike zone.
Across the diamond, starter Roberto Pena also delivered an excellent outing to keep Flanagan (10-4) in the game right down to the finish. Pena went the distance as well, surrendering two earned runs on seven hits and a walk. He struck out four and also picked off a base runner.
Flanagan’s Roberto Pena delivered a quality start with a complete-game performance, striking out four in six innings.
“Roberto pitched a great game, and they pitched a great game,” Flanagan manager Ray Evans said. “When push came to shove we relinquished a little bit. We had enough hits and had guys in scoring position four times, and with that happening and we cannot have one fall in play we are not going to win no matter how good we pitch. We have to score runs.”
Both sides managed base runners in the first inning, only to have the frame ended when the opposing defense turned a double play. Tyler Evans led off the game with a single to left, but was doubled off when Mavericks shortstop Luis Tuero snared a hard liner that also brought him right over second base for the unassisted double play. Tuero then singled and Toral walked in the bottom of the first, before the Falcons turned a smooth 6-4-3 double play to end the threat.
Flanagan threatened again in the second. Reece Warnock led off with a single up the middle and Arrison Perez lined a base knock to left field, but Federman dug in and got a called strikeout followed by a routine fly ball to left field that ended the inning.
“We had guys in scoring position early on twice, and someone has got to come through and just hit a ground ball where we are punching out,” Evans said. “If we get a ground ball it is a different game at 2-1 and we’re only a run down. We had some calls that I didn’t agree with, but they really didn’t effect it.”
After escaping the threat in the second unscathed, McCarthy followed it up by putting together the only runs of the ball game. Adan Fernandez smacked the first pitch he saw for a double to left field, Ubaldo Lopez rolled a 2-0 offering up the middle and AJ Hendricks jumped on a 1-0 pitch and sent it screaming into right field for an RBI single that plated the deciding run. Colin Bersch then had a high infield chopper that went for an RBI single and a two-run advantage.
“We knew the pitcher threw a lot of strikes, so we were going to have to be aggressive,” Mavericks manager Rich Bielski said. “He didn’t walk many people, so we had some aggressive sticks tonight and we had some timely hits. We ran ourselves out of a couple of innings that we felt we should have gotten a couple of runs, but you have to tip your hat off to Flanagan. They have got a great team, they are well-coached and they kept the game close all game long. It was a good game.”
Base runners were tough to come by for both teams all night.
Base runners were sparse after that. Evans, Jeremy Cook and Tyler Epstein managed the only other hits for Flanagan, while Joe Perez had a pair of singles both to center field for the Mavericks’ only remaining hits of the night.
The Falcons threatened one last time to chase Federman in the top of the sixth. Tyler Evans singled to the shortstop and Tyler Epstein followed with a bunt single. With Yordani Carmona now on in relief, the Mavericks got a force out at second to leave runners on the corners, and Carmoni retired the next two batters swinging to end the inning.
“I am real proud of our guys though; they never stopped fighting,” Evans said. “The last two guys really scorched it and they were really, really fighting until the end so I’m proud of them. We’ve beat them and they came back to win states, so maybe we’ll reverse those roles.”
Both sides are no strangers to making a run for a state title, and both showed the right tools to make another run this upcoming postseason. Should both clubs pitch and play defense the way they did on Thursday night, they could have a lot of games left on their season.
“That is the formula is pitching and defense, and that is what we got tonight,” Bielski said. “Fed threw a great game and he really dominated. He worked out of a couple of jams, but he has been our horse all year long. I’m proud of his performance tonight. He put us in a great position to win, then Carmona came in and finished up. Pitching and defense wins a lot of ball games, and tonight was definitely one of them.”
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