Westminster Falls Just Short Against Archbishop McCarthy

It was everything one would expect from a battle between two of the best teams in South Florida. In a match-up of one of Miami’s best, Westminster Christian, and three-time defending state champion Archbishop McCarthy from Broward, it made perfect sense that something out of the ordinary would decide the game.

After the two teams battled for more than three hours and six and a third innings, it was a player that was not even in the starting lineup that had the final say in the outcome. Blade Bielski, who had come in for defensive purposes in the top of the seventh, delivered a game-winning bunt base hit on a pitch that nearly beaned the Mavericks junior, sending Archibishop to a come-from-behind, 7-6 win over the Warriors.

The game figured to be a pitcher’s duel, with Mavericks ace Brian Gonzalez taking the hill, opposed by Westminster’s John Gonzalez. The Warriors got to Gonzalez early, scoring two runs in the first inning. After Gonzalez and Cole Kreuter opened the game with back-to-back singles, John Ruiz went the other way for a base hit, knocking in the first run. Kreuter later scored on a wild pitch.

With Westminster threatening to blow it open early, Gonzalez induced an inning-ending double play, avoiding further damage. The douple play would foreshadow the next six innings for Westminster, where they would continually put runners on base, only to leave them stranded.

“We always preach that you’ve got to throw the knockout punch, especially when you are playing a team like this,” said Warriors Manager Emil Castellanos. “They’re not three-time defending champs for no reason. We knew to win here we would have to play our best game, and tonight that didn’t happen. It’s a good learning experience for us, and we’ll get better from it.”

For much of the night it looked as though the Warriors did bring enough to stop Archbishop. Even after the Mavericks made it a 2-1 game in the second on an RBI double by Alex Rodriguez, Westminster answered immediately, putting up a four spot in the third. Gonzalez and Kreuter were again at the center of the scoring, with Gonzalez drawing a bases-loaded walk, and Kreuter hitting a two-RBI single.

From there, the Mavericks started chipping away at the four run lead. In the fifth, an RBI single by Brandon Vicens and a run-scoring groundout off the bat of Eddie Silva cut the lead to 6-4. In the sixth, Michael Gigliotti’s ground ball to second drove in Bielski, who was at the time running for Aaron Soto.

On the mound for the Mavericks, Soto took over for Gonzalez, and after walking in a run, settled in to throw 3.1 shutout innings. When Jonathan Quintana relieved Soto in the seventh, Bielski came in to play second base, and that is when the fun started for Archbishop.

Quintana held the Warrior bats in check, leaving one final chance for Archbishop to steal the game in the bottom of the seventh, and they took full advantage of that opportunity.

After reliever Dakota Robbins got Silva to flyout to start the inning, Gonzalez walked and Ryan Sinzenich singled in front of an outfield that was playing deep to avoid any extra base hits. Michael Hernandez then delivered the at-bat of the game, working the count full and fouling off pitch after pitch until eventually delivering the game-tying single to right field.

“I was just fighting off pitches, but I felt that I was on them,” said Hernandez. “Big B (Gonzalez) yelled from the dugout that I was just dropping my shoulder a little bit. I thought about it for a second in between pitches, and made the adjustment to get on top of the ball, and it worked out.”

Stepping to the plate next was Bielski, and with Sinzenich on third and one out virtually every person in the stadium knew what was coming next. Bielski swung at the first pitch, and knew what he had to do after that.

“We talked before the at-bat, and the coaches told me I could have one strike, and after that we were going to squeeze,” said Bielski.

With the Warriors prepared, the next pitch came high and tight, causing Bielski to jump out of the way, and in the process, the junior laid down the perfect bunt down the first base line. When the ball stayed fair, the Mavericks had their biggest win of the young season.

“I haven’t had many chances to contribute over the past few years, so that was an awesome feeling. We all have the mentality that when it is our time to help the team, we have to execute and come through. Tonight it was my turn, and it’s a great feeling to know I got the job done.”

The Mavericks are now off to a 4-0 start, and are heading into a week in which they face Chaminade Madonna and Doral. Should they win those two games, it is likely they will be facing Columbus next Friday night in a match-up that could determine the number one team in the first HSBN Tri-County rankings of the season, which will be released on Monday, March 1st.

Westminster will try to rebound from the loss next week when they face district foe Palmer Trinity.

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