LaSalle Throws No-Hitter In 1st HSBN Game Of The Week

LaSalle and Belen Jesuit is one of the oldest rivalries in Miami, and Saturday afternoon the two program renewed acquaintances in the first-ever HSBN Miami Game of the Week. Belen jumped out to an early lead, but it was LaSalle who persevered and ran their record to 5-4 with a 4-2 victory.

The fans were out in force for both teams, and they were treated to a good game. LaSalle had two pitchers combine to throw a no-hitter on a day that began with two longtime alma maters throwing out the first pitch for their respective schools. For LaSalle, it was 1968 graduate Frank Alvarez, who was an all-conference player for the Lions.

Belen trotted out their head football coach, Richard Stuart, who has been at the helm of the Wolverines football program for 30 years. Stuart’s teams have won district titles in 2005, 2009, and 2010, and reached the state title game in 2009.

Once the game began, the ball was turned over to Belen starter David Villa and LaSalle’s Mike Mathias. Belen struck first in the second inning, without the benefit of a hit. William Fabra, Villa, and Javier Herrera all had walks in the inning, with Herrera’s bringing across the first run of the game. Ryan Rodriguez-Mena’s groundout to the pitcher brought in the second run of the inning for the Wolverines. On the play, Mathias took a ball off the forearm. Two batters later, Mathias was removed because of the injury.

Reliever Sergio Miyares took over for Mathias, and shut down Belen over the next 5.1 innings, completing the no-hitter while striking out five.

“Sergio has the perfect demeanor for pitching,” said Lions Manager Oscar Benitez, when asked about Miyares having to come into the game earlier than planned. “He never worries about anything. He’s always around the strike zone. He is so calm out on the mound. He’s been one of our best pitchers thus far, and I think we are going to be riding his arm for a while.”

The Lions offense, meanwhile, chipped into the 2-0 deficit in the third. Eric Valdes led off the inning with a single, and later scored on a Mike Avila base hit.

In the fifth, the Lions would take the lead for good. Yordan Piedra started the three-run rally with a n infield single. Jordan Vazquez walked, and Nick Canino was hit by a pitch. An error tied the game at two before Avila delivered his second RBI of the day with a sacrifice fly to right. Justin Blair drove in the third run of the inning with a single, scoring Canino.

LaSalle moved over the .500 mark for the first time this season. The Lions have won four of their past five games, and are starting to see glimpses of the team Manager Oscar Benitez thought they would be before the season began.

“We’re really proud of how we played today,” said Miyares. “We have a really important part of our schedule coming up, and it is nice that we are getting on a roll at the right time.”

For Belen, it was more of the same in a season that has seen their bats yet to wake up.

“Our offense hasn’t been there all year,” said Wolverines Manager Jerry Albert. “We hit for an hour, hour and a half every day, we work all the drills in the cages, but we haven’t brought it with us on game day yet this year.”

LaSalle will look to continue their hot play next week when they face district rival Doral. Belen begins a stretch of three straight district games at home Tuesday against Norland.

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