St. Brendan Walks Off In The Seventh To Edge Mater Lakes

Two teams that have gotten off to great starts this season faced off in a non district match-up Thursday afternoon. The St. Brendan Sabres pulled out an exciting 8-7 victory in the last inning over the Mater Lakes Bears.

With the game tied at 7, the Sabres’ Eric Alvarez led off the inning and blasted the second pitch he saw for a walk-off home run. The rest of the Sabres stormed towards home plate to celebrate as Alvarez rounded third.

“I was just looking for a pitch to hit, and the pitcher left a hanging curve ball, so I just took a hack at it,” Alvarez said.

The game started off as a low-scoring affair as Mater Lakes pitcher Carlos Lopez and the infield began strong, making plays to get out of innings after allowing runners on base. In the first inning, it was a double play on a hard-hit line drive to second baseman Cesar Temes that ended the inning. In the second, Lopez allowed the first two batters on base, but got himself out of the inning when he caught a line drive right back at him and was able to throw to second base to start a rare triple play.

The Sabres starter, Conley Diaz, pitched a great game and finished with seven strikeouts in six innings. He also had help from some key defensive plays. His catcher, Dayan Cubas, made a diving catch behind the plate after a failed bunt attempt by one of the Bears in the third inning that really helped Diaz get out of a jam.

Mater Lakes took a 1-0 lead in the third when a couple of errors allowed Abraham Ortega to score. St. Brendan tied it up the next inning as Sly Edwards doubled to lead off the inning and scored when Mater Lakes committed an error. Edwards went 4-for-4 with two runs scored on the afternoon.

“Sly really solidified our outfield, and he makes our line-up that much better,” St. Brendan head coach Joe Cubas said. “He puts a lot of pressure on the defense once he gets on base, and he really helps out those that hit in front of him and behind him as well.”

In the fifth inning, the Sabres has an offensive explosion, scoring six runs on six hits for a 7-1 lead. Jose Carrera, Miguel Ceballos, Alvarez, and Henry Knez contributed to the rally with RBI singles in the inning.

In the sixth, Mater Lakes’ Vincente Amor sparked the Bears with a shot over the left-field fence. The home run cut the lead down to 7-2. More important, it gave the Bears confidence and lifted their spirits enough to start a rally in the seventh. The Bears remained patient at the plate, drew a number of walks and got key RBI singles from Cesar Temes and Justin Gil to come all the way back to tie up the game.

“We just weren’t playing fundamental baseball,” Mater Lakes head coach Cesar Temes said. “Then with one big hit, the kids got back into the game and just started playing baseball again.”

St. Brendan is off to a good start this season and is now 8-1. Eric Alvarez attributes the good start to how close he and his teammates are.

“We have become real close and know that when we mess up on the field, we got each other in the dugout,” Alvarez said. “We are really like a family.”

The Sabres play Gulliver Prep on Tuesday afternoon at home in a big district battle.

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