Homer propels Mavericks into final

 
Coming into their state semifinal ranked No. 1 nationally in the USA Today Super 25 and No. 4 nationally by ESPN RISE, and coming in as the defending state champions, their game against unheralded Crawfordville Wakulla seemed to be just another step to Tuesday’s state championship game.
But the War Eagles pestered the Mavericks all night, and a McCarthy victory was only assured when Jose Brizuela launched a three-run homer over the right-field wall in the bottom of the sixth inning.
That blast gave the Mavericks 4-2 win at Digital Domain Park on Monday night, advancing them to the state title game Tuesday at 4 p.m. against Tampa Jesuit.
“I was just trying to stay inside the ball and drive it,” said Brizuela, who also struck out the side in the seventh to earn a save. “Now we have one more game left, and we’re going to go get them.”
The game was very much in doubt before the homer, as McCarthy stranded runners throughout.
McCarthy (27-3) loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth, but Brizuela grounded into an easy out to the Wakulla (18-10) second baseman.
In the fifth inning it was more of the same, as runners on second and third base trotted back to the dugout instead of sprinting through home plate.
When the sixth came around, though, Wakulla starter Ryan Zimba finally showed some signs of getting tired. He walked the Mavericks’ eighth and ninth hitters – his seventh and eighth walks of the game – to bring up Brizuela with the season and a potential mythical national championship on the line.
Brizuela, who had a poor night at the plate to that point, came through with a high fly ball the just kept sailing until it plopped onto the grassy hill to the left of the right-field foul pole.
“We’ve come back so many times that we really believe,” coach Rich Bielski said. “There was no panic, there was no ‘This could be our last game.’”
For a while, Wakulla’s fourth inning looked like it was going to be the difference.
Two errors brought one War Eagle home, and it might have been much worse if Mavericks catch Garrett Kennedy hadn’t made a great defensive play.
Wakulla’s Dillon Norman hit what looked like a sacrifice fly into right field, but McCarthy’s Adam Duarte was on target with a throw home. Kennedy caught the relay, turned, was clobbered by opposing catcher Tylor Hudson and held his grip on the ball on for a huge out.
“He’s going to lay it all on the field and put his body at risk for us,” starting pitcher Andre Martinez said. “That was a big sign in Jose Brizuela’s head when he was up to bat. He was thinking of all the people that fight for him.”
But the inning wasn’t over, and a single by the next War Eagle scored a runner from third to put Wakulla up 2-1.
Martinez (11-2) earned the win, striking out seven in six innings. Zimba (3-6) took the loss.
McCarthy only had about 18 hours in between their win and Tuesday’s state championship game. Martinez hopes the tight turnaround won’t be a factor.
“We enjoy this win for about 20 minutes, go eat and then go to bed because we’ve got to go back to work,” Martinez said.