State Champions Again! Mater Academy Returns To The Top
Mater Academy Manager Humberto Bencomo celebrates with the green and gold fans after winning the 2025 5A state championship.
The Mater Academy Lions have known all season who they are and what they want. With their eyes finally on the prize, and inspired by more than just the accolades themselves, the Lions performed like champions, and then ended the day as them.
Mater earned a 6-1 victory over the Wesley Chapel Wildcats, Saturday morning at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, to win the Class 5A state championship.
“We were fighting for more than just a trophy and a medal,” senior Eiker Noguera said. “One of our coaches who passed three years ago, Coach Rivera. We played the game for him, and honored the game for him, and we wanted to bring it home for him.”
Next the team plans to bring the trophy to Coach Rivera’s grave to celebrate and honor him.
It is the second state championship in team history for the Lions (25-9-1), who also won it all back in the 2014 season. Much like that first title team, this was a special group of players that excelled on the field together, and that had a unified motivation that further inspired them.
“Our objective was that we were fighting for something else,” Noguera said. “We kept on and kept on, and we knew what we had. Everything that happens has brought us more together, and that’s why we’re here where we’re at.”
Mater Academy storms the field to dogpile and celebrate winning the state title.
After rallying to victory in the state semifinal just to reach the finale, the Lions wasted no time in taking control. Mater jumped out for three runs in the bottom of the first inning, and added another in the second to play from ahead and control the momentum most of the way.
Teams always talk about doing the little things, about the balance of pitching, hitting and defense. Perhaps no other team better showcased what that really means and what that looks like than the Lions did on Saturday. Players communicated excellently on defense, with several incredible plays that helped preserve the lead. Batters fed each other throughout the lineup, picking each other up in clutch moments, and the pitching continued its dominance.
“These guys fought all year,” Mater Academy Manager Humberto Bencomo said. “They just fight and fight, and do not stop. We have been through a lot, but we signed up for this. So, here we are.”
Mater played a schedule as tough as any this season, and all those challenges paid off in the end. The Lions began slowly, losing three straight to Belen Jesuit, Columbus and Florida Christian – all established programs with state championships. For the season, Mater faced a total of twelve previous state champion programs, and they also traveled to Las Vegas, and defeated three of Nevada’s top teams. Around the same time that Mater celebrated its championship, one of those teams, the Basic Wolves, also celebrated in winning their Nevada state titles on Saturday.
Playing all those high-caliber teams only proved what a team Mater Academy had this season.
“Our guys are great. Our guys hustle for what they want,” Noguera said. “We had to show these guys that we were fighting for something else. Day after day, practice after practice, to show our team what Mater means. Mater is not a team; we are a family.”
Noguera set the tone at the top of the batting order, going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. After leading off the game with a base hit to center, he came around to get the scoring started thanks to consecutive singles from Yodelkis Quevedo and Bryan Arrieta. Alfrin Rosario then delivered a ball deep to center and past the diving center fielder, resulting in an RBI double and a 3-0 lead.
For Rosario, it was just another contribution from a guy who has done so much for his team all year. The senior also made his fifth and final start of the season on the mound, and he spun a gem to earn the victory.
“It feels really amazing, especially my senior year. It was my last ride and it was a great way to end it. I always wanted to be a state champ,” Rosario said. “We knew that we had the pitching for it this year, we had the players that we have this year, and that we have the team bond to do it this year. We wanted it all, and look where we’re at.”
Rosario struck out seven overall in his outing, where his 108 total pitches took him into the seventh inning to record all but the last two outs. Although the Wildcats managed nine total hits and three walks, he allowed just one run.
“There were a couple of innings where they were seeing the ball and they had a couple of hits off of me,” Rosario said. “But I like being in those jams, sometimes. That’s why in the future they say I am going to be a closer, because I am the guy you go to with bases loaded and no outs.”
Rosario struck out the last batter to end four innings, and the defense repeatedly delivered behind him.
Perhaps the most pivotal moment of the action came in the top of the third. After Nolan Hartley led off with a triple to left, Zorre Wright was hit by a pitch and Cole Ranchel had an RBI single to drive in the Wildcats’ only ruin. But with two runners on and the momentum starting to shift, left fielder Jeuri La Rosa dove out to snare a shallow liner, and then responded to his teammates in time to double off the runner at second for a massive double play that quelled the threat.
Jeuri La Rosa also made big contributions with his bat. He walked and later scored on an RBI single from Noguera in the second, and then added a sac-fly RBI that plated courtesy-runner Rafael Govin to make it 5-1 in the fourth.
Bryan Fernandez added an RBI single that drove in Brandon Lorenzo in the sixth.
Mater’s Jeuri La Rosa makes an impressive diving catch during the state championship.
… and doubles off the lead base runner!
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