Reyes-Diaz Helps Monsignor Pace Stun Mater Lakes

Listening to coaches has its rewards.

Jonathan Reyes-Diaz reaped the benefits of listening to his coaches in a big way on Wednesday night as the Monsignor Pace sophomore led the Spartans to a 7-5 win against Mater Lakes in eight innings at St. Thomas University.

Reyes-Diaz’s opposite field single to right field on a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the top of the eighth brought home Gus Guerra from second base to snap a 5-5 deadlock between the Class 4A-District 15 foes.

“I thought they were going to keep throwing me curve balls like they were doing in my second and third at-bat, but they threw a fastball outside,” said Reyes-Diaz, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a walk out of the leadoff spot. “I did what the coaches told me. I waited on it and hit the opposite way.”

Which is exactly what Guerra — the team’s No. 9 batter — did in the previous at-bat when he sliced a single to right and then stole second to set the stage for Reyes-Diaz, who didn’t dwell on strikeouts in his second and third at-bats earlier in the night. In fact, Reyes-Diaz responded to his whiffs by helping rally the Spartans from a 5-3 deficit in the sixth when he crushed an RBI double to left-center and then scored the tying run on a single by junior Leroy Garcia (3-for-4, one RBI).

“The coaches told me to keep my head up, to keep my head on the ball, wait on it and explode. That’s exactly what I did,” Reyes-Diaz said.

If Monsignor Pace (5-16, 4-6) wants to be a factor as the No. 5 seed in the district playoffs, it will have to pull off an upset along the lines of Wednesday’s thriller. The Spartans certainly earned a boost of confidence as they belted 10 hits against a solid pitching staff that had fired three shutouts in its past five games.

“You always want to be playing your best baseball going into the playoffs,” said Pace Manager Tom Duffin. “It’s only one game; this is not the game that counts, but it is a good win. The kids hung in there. They could have folded. You’re playing with a lot of young players that haven’t played on the varsity level and they got the job done when they had to. They had nice plays and key hits, where we weren’t getting them earlier in the year.”

Pace received a strong relief outing from sophomore Peter Diaz, who earned the victory after replacing starter Manuel Rodriguez. Diaz, a hard-throwing right-hander, was sharp as he retired 12 of the 13 batters he faced and had four strikeouts.

The Spartans were led in the field by Garcia, who made a couple of tough plays at third late in the game, and Anthony Boix in left field.

Despite the loss, Mater Lakes (11-9, 7-2) still has a chance to claim the district’s top seed, which will likely be decided when the Bears host Florida Christian on April 9th.

“If we beat Florida Christian, it will become a run differential for the tiebreaker. We’re guaranteed (at least) the No. 2 seed, but that’s not the point,” said Mater Lakes Manager Cesar Temes, whose team lost for just the third time in its last 10 games. “The point is we need to be playing good baseball as we get into the playoffs and I think this was the most selfish game we’ve played all season long. We’re not playing team baseball. It cost us the game.”

Mater Lakes was held to five hits, which came from five different players. A rare two-run sacrifice fly came off the bat of Marlon Romero on a fly to deep center that gave the Bears a 5-3 lead in the fourth.

Pace started fast with a three-run first inning that featured four hits off starter Ricardo Rodriguez, including a two-run single by freshman catcher Andres Sanchez.
Mater Lakes responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning thanks in part to a pair of hit-batsmen and an RBI sacrifice fly by Justin Millares.

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