Belen Jesuit Loses Hard-Fought Game To Archbishop McCarthy

Fans got a look at two potential playoff teams that may face off again in the first two rounds of the state playoffs come May. Unfortunately for Belen Jesuit fans, Archbishop McCarthy came out of Wednesday’s game with a 5-1 win.

The Mavericks got good production from a number of players on the afternoon. Second baseman Jason Morozowski was a big part of the win and went 3-for-3 with three singles. He also accounted for two runs scored by the Mavericks.

“Jason has been on fire, is real comfortable at the plate and is just playing his game,” McCarthy head coach Rich Bielski said.

The Mavericks struck first early in the second inning getting a hit by Morozowski and then an RBI single from Eddie Silva as he muscled an inside fastball just over shortstop to give the Mavs the 1-0 lead.

Belen got a number of hits and runners on base in the first few innings but didn’t score until the fourth. Alex De Goti, who had a double earlier in the game but was called out after an appeal to the umpire who agreed that he missed first base as he rounded for second, started the inning with another double to right field. Wolverine third baseman Danny Guevara came up next and hit a double down the third-base line and drove in De Goti.

McCarthy pitcher Ryan Castellanos got out of the inning and finished the day by allowing one run in the four innings he pitched. He was relieved by David Thompson in the fifth. Thompson struck out four and allowed one hit the rest of the game.

“Ryan and David are two senior pitchers that combined for a great outing today,” Bielski said. “They had good command of the strike zone and had their pitches working today, which made them tough to hit.”

Morozowski led another Mavericks’ rally in the sixth reaching base on one of his singles. After a walked batter and a bunt single by Adam Duarte, the Mavericks had the bases loaded with one out. Belen forced Brandon Roberts to hit a ground ball to third, but a key error on the throw home allowed for the run to score. Nick Basto added to the damage with an RBI single, making it 3-1 after five innings.

“We had a couple of good at-bats from a couple of kids but just not enough in a row,” Belen head coach Jerry Albert said. “We had a few situations where we needed to be more productive at the plate and we weren’t and they did, which is the reason they won the game.”

A bright spot for the Wolverines was getting a nice outing from starting pitcher Christian Solis. Solis went four and one-third innings, struck out four and gave up two earned runs. This was Solis’ first start after missing the last couple of weeks after getting his appendix removed.

“We were taking it easy with him and limiting his pitch count,” Albert said. “He was excellent though, and he has been all year for us.”

The Mavericks’ power hitter Nick Travieso gave his team some insurance runs in the seventh when he got a hold of a pitch and sent it deep over the left-field fence for a two-run home run. His hit made the game 5-1, and the Wolverines were unable to make up that deficit.

“If we get to play them later on, it would be terrific,” Albert said. “That would mean we were in the state playoffs and got through our district, which we are definitely not taking lightly.”

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