Somerset Continues Torrid Start With Win Over McCarthy

The Somerset Panthers took their lumps last year in the first season under new Manager Juan Mora. The Panthers went 12-14, and used the season as a reset under their new coach.

In 2025, the expectations are much higher, and so far, through two weeks, those expectations have been met.

In their most thrilling game of the season, the Panthers had an early lead, then fell behind, behind winning in dramatic fashion, 8-6, over Archbishop McCarthy. The win moves Somerset to 4-1.

“Our team believes in what we are doing,” said Mora. “And this was a big win for us, but we are still taking it day by day, game by game, just trying to get better with each game.”

The Panthers jumped on McCarthy early, scoring two runs each in the first and second innings. Meyer Cabrera and Christian Cordero hit back-to-back sacrifice flies in the first.

The damage in the second came from an RBI double off the bat of Eric Vazquez, and a base hit from Jon Mora.

In their half of the third, the Mavericks made things interesting, cutting the lead to 4-3.

Somerset upped the lead to 5-3 with a run in the fourth, and McCarthy answered with one of their own in the fifth.

With the score 5-4, McCarthy’s Robbie Kerns came through with a one-out, two-run homer to right, giving McCarthy their first lead of the game.

In the seventh, it looked like Nick Llinas, who had cruised through his three innings of work, would close out the Panthers, getting the first two batters to ground out.

Down to their last out, Mora extended the game with a single. An Alan Sanchez walk set the stage for Cabrera to deliver the most dramatic moment of the season for the Panthers, a three-run blast to center-field, putting Somerset back in front 8-6.

“Meyer has been our offensive leader early on in the season, and he came through again tonight,” said Mora. “That was a big spot, and for him to hit that home run was huge for us.”

The Mavericks threatened again in their half of the seventh, putting the tying runs on base with two out, but senior reliever Luis Rivera was able to close out the win for the Panthers.

“We never gave up,” said Mora. “Kareem (Amer) pitched a great game for us, going deep into the game. And then our bullpen, which has been a strength for us all season, came through at the end. It was a great team win.”

Somerset will now wait nearly a week to play their next game, which comes next Wednesday on the road at Mater Lakes Academy.

For the Mavericks, they will look to regroup when they face Mater Academy on Thursday. McCarthy now sits at 1-4 on the season, but have lost three of those games by a combined four runs.

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