Coral Gables Shocks McCarthy 8-3 In Marlins Park Matinee

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The Miami sunshine glowed down on the gorgeously manicured grass. The diamond had perhaps never looked better, and the field never quite so large and magnificent. The dimensions had not changed, but it was a stage unlike any other.

Tuesday morning brought an exciting cross-county showdown between Coral Gables and Archbishop McCarthy, in a contest played on the grand stage of Miami Marlins Park. The Cavaliers caught fire early on and rode that momentum to a strong 8-3 decision, ending a 10-game winning streak that dated back to last season for the four-time defending state champions.

Moments like these are cherished forever, and the Cavaliers made plenty of special memories to capitalize on the experience. The players have taken a game-by-game approach to everything they do, but when this experience arrived they made the absolute most of it.

“The grass is just perfect out here,” said leadoff hitter Raymond Gonzalez.

It was this same grass that Gonzalez peppered hits onto all day long, as he went 4-for-4 on the day.

“It feels amazing that I got to play here with my family and in front of my family,” said Rolando Rodriguez. “I had a great time and I’m never going to forget this moment.”

With all of his family on hand Rolando also reached base all four trips, crushing big hits that drove in crucial runs for his team. The designated hitter finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs.

“It felt awesome to pitch on the Marlins mound. It was a dream come true, honestly,” said Cavaliers starter Andrew Cabezas. “There is nothing I can say. After that first pitch and first inning, yeah I was kind of hyper because it’s a Major League mound, a Major League stadium with all my friends and family watching. But after that all the jitters and hyperness I had was gone and I had to just go and do what I had to do.”

Cabezas helped set the tone for his club with five solid innings from off that Major League mound. The right-hander scattered eight hits and three walks while limiting the damage to three runs, and he recorded four strikeouts on 86 pitches to earn the victory.

Cabezas admits that the team has taken the mindset everyday to practice that they will win every time they go out, to strive for perfection by treating every day with the same level of importance.

“In our minds we have to think that we’re the best team not just in Dade County or the state, but in the country,” said Cabezas. “That’s the mindset we have had all year, have had the whole fall, and the results are what is proven today.”

The Cavaliers (3-0) were aggressive right out of the gates, and they were able dictate the tempo and maintain momentum throughout. Gables Manager Phil Wisser knows that the togetherness with his club this year is what is making everything click. They have talent and ability, but it is the way they drive one another that is bringing it out in them.

“Everybody is on that one goal, that one mindset, and that is to come out and win,” Wisser said. “We were facing one of the top teams in the country. You have a team as solid as the Archbishop McCarthy program and we have so much respect for them. When we had this opportunity to come out here and play McCarthy in this setting, we said let’s make a statement. Not that we’re trying to prove people wrong and put a bullseye on us, but it was definitely our opportunity to see how good we are.”

Gonzalez got things going for his club right out of the chute, as he blooped a 1-2 pitch into shallow left field for a leadoff single. He was aggressive on the bases and used a strong first-jump to steal both second and third base to move within ninety feet of home plate. Rolando Rodriguez completed that trip by stroking a blooper to left to give Gables an early 1-0 edge.

Gonzalez helped break things open his next time around as he ripped a single to center, advanced to second base on a wild pitch and then to third base when Franky Montesino dropped one down for the putout to first. Gonzalez then scored on a wild pitch to put Gables up for good.

Elih Marrero kept things going to break it open, singling to center and stealing second to get into scoring position for Rolando Rodriguez. Rolando crushed a shot to the left-center gap and raced around the bases to slide safely into third with the RBI triple.

“It feels good to get the job done,” Rolando said. “I was just concentrated in my at bat, looking for one pitch at a time and just focusing on that one pitch to try and hit it hard.”

Rolando also scored in the frame to go up 4-1 when Coco Montes sent an RBI single up the middle. Montes added an RBI triple in his next at bat, driving in courtesy-runner Anthony Valdes to finish off a three-run fifth inning.

It again was Gonzalez sparking the scoring burst in the fifth, as he poked a single to left field, advanced to second thanks to a sacrifice bunt from Montesino and then stole third on the next pitch to again get deep into scoring position.

“I knew they were throwing hard so I just tried to get my foot down, get my hands out and hit the ball hard,” said Gonzalez. “Coach gives me the green light so I went for a good jump and took off. We really wanted this game and to know I was helping my guys out by playing good and playing hard was great.”

Marrero drove Gonzalez home each of the next two opportunities, first on an RBI single to right field and then on a sacrifice flyout in the sixth that closed the scoring. The Cavaliers catcher went 2-for-3 with two RBIs on the day.

Rolando Rodriguez fell a homer short of the cycle, as he added an RBI double.

Left-hander Brian Melendez also got the chance to throw from a Major League hill, as the southpaw tossed two scoreless frames to close out the victory.

It was a near-flawless performance from Gables, and they appropriately finished it off with a 4-6-3 double play in the bottom of the seventh.

“I asked the team, how does it taste? Did you forget?” said Mavericks Manager Rich Bielski, whose squad lost for the first time since April 17th of last year. “It has been a while and you have to give Coral Gables credit. They came to play. They are a high-energy team, they came out and they were aggressive on the bases and they did a real good job today.”

The Cavaliers have bought into the coach’s approach to focus on every moment, and to stay focused on the task at hand and not on what’s ahead. In the sixth with Wiser reminding his guys that they just needed to focus for six more outs, players responded by saying they were focused on just getting the next strike first.

In the end, the win was theirs. It was a moment to enjoy and appreciate for the challenge they had just overcome in order to enjoy this victory. The team believed in themselves, and now they have a big reason to trust in that.

“This was a test, and I definitely think we came out with a lot of energy and excitement and we played a great baseball game,” said Wisser. “It was well-rounded all around; we pitched, we hit and we played defense. You can’t say enough about their program, but we came out and wanted to do something and we were able to get that done today.”

With another game set for Wednesday, the club allowed themselves a half an hour to enjoy the victory together. Then they returned to the school for an afternoon practice to prepare for tomorrow.

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