American Heritage baseball knocks off Archbishop McCarthy in 5A regional
SOUTHWEST RANCHES, FLORIDA – Before the season, many felt tradition-rich American Heritage Plantation was in for a rebuilding year.
The youthful Patriots had other ideas.
On Tuesday night, senior catcher Mateo Serna belted a two-run home run that helped rally American Heritage to a 4-3 upset of Archbishop McCarthy in the Class 5A regional finals.
“This is a brotherhood,” said Serna, a Memphis commit. “Since my sophomore year, we’ve been coming up. Nobody is selfish. Everyone is doing their job. When somebody needs to get the bunt down, we get the bunt down. When somebody needs the walk, we get the walk. Nobody is selfish on this team.”
Mateo Serna (left) hit a 2-run home run and Talan Holiday pitched 6 strong innings as American Heritage upsets Archbishop McCarthy, 4-3, in Class 5A regional final.
Photo by Joe Frisaro
In the second half of the season, the Patriots repeatedly had a knack for finding a way.
Heritage (19-6) now is heading to Fort Myers to participate in the state Class 5A semifinals.
The Patriots enter as the No. 3 seed, and they will take on second-seed Columbia on Monday. In the other 5A semifinal, No. 1 seed Jesuit faces No. 4 Sebring.
“I don’t know that anybody outside of these 22 guys expected this,” Heritage coach Mike Macey said. “We were here last year, and we grew from it. We had some losses in the season that maybe we shouldn’t have lost, and here we are. They found a way to win. That’s what we’ve done.”
Winners of six straight, Heritage put an end to McCarthy’s impressive 24-6 season. The Mavericks were the top seed in the regional, and they had been nationally ranked earlier in the year.
Heritage and McCarthy had a longstanding, friendly rivalry.
“It’s not about beating those guys,” Macey said. “It’s about winning the regional final. I know these [players] are excited about beating them. They were the next game on the schedule to get where you need to get to. It’s not about beating McCarthy. They’re a great team. It’s always been great games. But like I said, this is about winning the regional final.”
Heritage was held hitless through four innings by McCarthy senior Connor McShane. After Heritage tied it in the fifth inning on Chris Levy’s two-out RBI single, Noah Albuquerque’s home run put the Mavericks ahead, 2-1.
But in the sixth inning, Spencer Butt walked to lead off the inning, and Serna crushed a two-run homer to right. Heritage capped a three-run sixth on Zain Diaco’s RBI double.
“My first at-bat, I wasn’t really good,” Serna said. “I wasn’t seeing the ball well. The slider, I knew he was coming with it. He wasn’t doubling up with the fastball, so I missed a couple of fastballs. Then, he hung the slider. I was looking for something outside, but that slider just caught my barrel.”
Holiday got stronger as the game progressed, and gave up three runs (two earned) with five strikeouts in six innings.
“It was just a big game from the start,” Holiday said. “I knew going into it I had to do my job. The guys around me put up runs. I just tried to keep the team in the game.”
McCarthy rallied for a run in the sixth inning. Andrew Ildefonso had a single and scored on Greg Caban’s two-out RBI single.
“Holiday was very good. Very effective on the mound,” McCarthy coach Aaron Vorachek said. “They just played a great game. They always say, it’s a game of inches. A ball here, a ball there that lands, and all of a sudden, you find yourself on the other side of a one-run game. It is what it is.”
South Florida baseball roundup:
Class 7A regional final: Marjory Stoneman Douglas 10, Columbus 1: Stoneman Douglas (27-0) blitzed through the regional, knocking off a strong Columbus squad to reach the Class 7A state playoffs.
Douglas (27-0) is the top seed, and will face fourth-seed Spruce Creek on Tuesday. Park Vista is the second seed, and will face Plant.
The Eagles scored nine runs in the second inning, putting the game out of reach earlier. Matt Ossenfort delivered a two-run homer, and Niko Benestad went back-to-back with a solo shot. Alex Rodriguez also hit a two-run drive. Starting pitcher, Christian Rodriguez gave up one run on three hits with four strikeouts in six innings.
Carlos Jacome had two hits, including a double, and drove in Columbus’ lone run.
American Heritage Plantation is heading to Class 5A state semifinals in Fort Myers after Tuesday's victory over Archbishop McCarthy.
Photo by Joe Frisaro
Class 6A: Doral Academy 8, Dwyer 7: The Firebirds scored two runs in the seventh inning to walk-off Dwyer. Alejandro Ludeiro had a home run and drove in five runs. Gabriel Milano, Robert Rodriguez and Wilfred Gonzalez each homered for Doral Academy.
Doral will be the No. 2 seed at state, and face No. 3 seed Viera on Tuesday. Sickles is the top seed, and it will take on Winter Springs.
Class 3A: Gulliver Prep 2, Calvary Christian Academy 0: Jacob Lombard drove in a key run for Gulliver Prep in a two-run sixth inning.
Gulliver Prep faces North Broward Prep on Friday in the semifinals. Providence School faces Calvary Christian in the other semifinal.
Class 3A: North Broward Prep 4, Montverde Academy 1: Riley Luft had a double and a home run for North Broward Prep. Mateo Gray struck out seven and allowed one unearned run in 4 2/3 innings.
Class 2A: Westminster Academy 9, Miami Christian 4: The Lions knocked off the defending state champion Victors. Jesus Garcia drove in three runs, and Landon Petrisko knocked in two.
