St. Brendan Takes Down #2 Belen Jesuit In Thriller

The St. Brendan Sabres (6-5) played an intense match against the Belen Jesuit Wolverines (11-2) in a passionate nail bitter that saw the Sabres take a game away from the red hot Wolverines, as St. Brendan won the game 5-4.

The game began with some early offense as both teams struck early. They each put up early runs in the first inning, however a rain delay halted play for 30 minutes. All that time waiting to resume didn’t cool down Sabres sophomore catcher Rafael Rizzo, because as soon as play resumed, he hit a two run shot to left field on the first pitch he saw, giving the Sabres a 3-1 lead.

“I’m usually always a first pitch hunter, I’m always looking first pitch fastball,” said Rizzo.”He left it there and I knew it was coming, I just swang, and got it out.”

Senior Alexander Martory also had quite the day as he went 2-for-3 at the plate. His first at bat wasn’t to his liking so he made adjustments that helped him majorly in his next two.

“I need to hunt a fastball,” said Martory about his game plan.” It’s the pitch I like to hit, and I’m a good opposite field hitter, so I just went with it.”

Sabres senior right-handed pitcher and St. Thomas commit Lucas Fernandez had a strong performance as he got the start and win for his team. He went four and two thirds and gave up only three runs as he threw 100 pitches in his outing. When asked about his performance, Fernandez said

“Honestly, I struggled a bit, I didn’t play my game the best I could, but I was able to bounce back and kept them there, made sure they didn’t get ahead… personally, I’d like to throw less pitches, I feel like that would mean I’d be getting in and out quicker.”

 

To close is out for the Sabres, St. Brendan Manager Jorge Robles went to junior left-handed pitcher Jonathan Fernandez-Andrew. He pitched two and a third innings in which he managed to strike out five of the 10 batters he faced. He pulled double duty as reliever and closer as he earned the save for his ball club.

Robles spoke about the win after the game saying, “We’ve been missing key situations in a lot of game, and that makes us inconsistent, but the pitchers threw strikes, and that’s the name of the game.”

While Belen Jesuit may have lost, the Wolverines showed no signs of giving up the entire game, as they fought back hard until the very end. Animated and full of life, the Wolverine dugout was eccentric, rambunctious, and extremely passionate when it came to cheering on their fellow teammates.

The Wolverines used that energy to rally in the seventh inning, as they were able to score a run to bring the ball game within one, with the tying run in scoring position. Jonathan Fernandez- Andrew was finally able to close it out, but the Wolverines were definitely resilient in their pursuit of a come back.

Senior Frank Fernandez was on the hill for the Wolverines, as he pitched a large chunk of the game for Belen Jesuit. Frank pitched five and a third innings, giving up five runs while also striking out seven. A fastball, curve ball, change-up pitcher, Frank seemed to be comfortable with the curve.

“My curve ball was really good,” when asked what was working in his outing. “My change-up I used a lot for lefties, and that was working pretty good also.”

The Wolverines fall to 11-2 after a battle that Manager Jesse Fernandez knew was a well fought one.

“What we’ve done all year is fight, and I knew it was gonna come down to the last at bat, unfortunately, we fell short. These guys just played a better game than us today,” said Fernandez.

 

 

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