Game Of The Week Preview: Mater Lakes At St. Brendan
Manager Luis Padron begins his first season at the helm for St. Brendan.
Friday is Valentine’s Day, but you’ll forgive the Mater Lakes Academy Bears if they don’t exactly show some love to the St. Brendan Sabres when they come to visit that afternoon.
The Bears won’t be all lovey dovey with revenge on their minds as they travel to the Sabres in the first High School Baseball Network Miami-Dade Game of the Week this season at 3:30 p.m. Friday.
Mater Lakes remembers last year’s 9-8 loss to St. Brendan just before the district tournament. The Bears will try to erase the memory of that bitter defeat this Friday.
St. Brendan features a new manager this season who brings a veteran touch to the Sabres. Luis Padron moves over from Westwood Christian after guiding the Warriors to the Class 2A state title in 2013.
Padron’s leadership will be an asset as St. Brendan moves into a district that includes Mater Lakes, Florida Christian, LaSalle, Monsignor Pace and Booker T. Washington. Five of the six teams won their respective districts last season, with Pace and Florida Christian making it to state.
Despite the tall task that lies ahead to make it through that tough district slate, St. Brendan will head into this season with confidence even though 12 seniors graduated from last year’s roster. A mix of seniors and underclassman will play key roles for the Sabres, who have bought in to Padron’s coaching philosophy.
Senior catcher Danny Sirven and senior outfielder Dennis Rivadineira return to lead the Sabres. Sirven hit .439 with 15 RBIs while playing first base last season, and made the HSBN All-Miami-Dade Second Team. Rivadineira hit .298 with 12 runs last season and will lead in the outfield.
The Sabres will tune up for Friday’s game with a matchup against Reagan at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
The Mater Lakes Bears will count on their pitching to step up this season.
Mater Lakes finds itself in a similar situation as St. Brendan. Bears Manager Cesar Temes faces the challenge of replacing 15 seniors who were key in helping the team win back-to-back district championships.
One of the biggest losses from last year will be at the plate as Mater Lakes will be trying to make up for a team that hit .395 with 23 home runs in 27 games. The Bears also had 13 games in which they scored 10 or more runs.
This year’s team will approach offense differently as it will focus more on small ball as the Bears seek to capitalize on their speed.
While the Bears work to try to find their identity offensively, they’ll be relying on a strength they didn’t have last year: pitching.
The team will count on senior Christian Calleja and junior Ricky Rodriguez to guide a group of younger arms this year. Calleja recorded 32 strikeouts and a 2.50 ERA while going 3-0 last season, and Rodriguez, who finished with a 1.58 ERA out of the bullpen, begins his first season as a starter.
Mater Lakes will get ready for Friday’s clash with St. Brendan by playing against Booker T. Washington at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at Gibson Park before it travels to Reagan at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
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