Mater Academy Bats Come Alive In Regional Semifinal Win

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Mater Academy players, coaches, and fans must have been experiencing deja vu during their regional semifinal match-up with Miami Springs Tuesday afternoon.

The Lions, playing in the same round where they were eliminated last season, built a 5-0 lead early, just as they had last year versus Archbishop McCarthy, and then watched eerily as the Golden Hawks fought back to pull within 5-4.

Unlike McCarthy last year, however, the Hawks were unable to complete the comeback, as Mater held on for a 10-6 victory, setting up a date with Pembroke Pines Charter in Broward next Tuesday.

“All I was thinking during that comeback was this is not going to happen to us again,” said senior Angel Ortiz, who had a two-run home run in the first for the Lions. “I went to Mike (Mediavilla) on the mound, and I told him, ‘we aren’t letting this happen again. We need to step up and win this game’.”

Mediavilla was on the mound last year when the Mavericks began their comeback, and on Tuesday he again took the hill. Unlike last year, Mediavilla was able to battle through adversity, getting out of several key jams, and showing the maturity from one season to the next.

“Mike battles,” said Mater Manager Mike DiRosa. “Even when he doesn’t have his best stuff, he’s like a bulldog out there. I almost had to wrestle the ball out of his hand today when I went out to pull him. That’s the type of competitor he is, and it shows how much this game meant to him.”

Early on it looked as though the Lions were going to cruise to the regional finals. They put up three in the first, highlighted by the Ortiz home run and singles by Raul Frias and Danny Reyes.

In the third, the Lions tacked on two more runs. Ortiz, who finished the game 3-for-4 with three RBIs, singled and stole second. Reyes and Deyvid Silva then each had RBi base hits. Reyes, like Ortiz, went 3-for-4 in the game.

The Lions came out swinging and running, picking up six hits and four stolen bases in the first three innings.

“It is always our game plan to be aggressive,” said DiRosa. “We don’t change the game plan too much based on our opponent. I would expect the same thing in our next game, even though we don’t know much about who we will be facing, we will stay with our aggressive approach to try and put pressure on the defense.”

In the bottom of the third, Miami Springs came with some aggression of their own. The Hawks put up four runs, keyed by a couple of walks and singles by Victor Perez and Anthony Diaz.

Mater answered with two more of their own in the fourth. Mediavilla helped his own cause with an RBI double in the inning.

Showing the never-say-die spirit they have exhibited all year, Miami Springs again cut the lead to one in their half of the fourth. Diaz, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, started the rally with a single. Marlon Castillo and Carlos Santana also had hits in the inning for the Hawks.

Nursing a one-run lead, DiRosa went to district championship hero Kevin Fuentes for the final three innings. Fuentes did his job, allowing only two base-runners, and shutting the Hawks down 1-2-3 in the seventh after the Lions had expanded their lead to 10-6 in the top of the inning.

“It’s a big win for us,” said Reyes. “Last year, we were in the same spot and we ended up losing that game. We carried that with us this year, and there was no way we were going to let that happen again this year. It shows how far we’ve come, and how hungry we are to win.”

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