District 4A-13 Brings Old Rivals Back Together

St. Andrew's players work on defense at a practice this fall.

King’s Academy and American Heritage-Delray used to be friendly district rivals for years. In 2014 the realignment has brought the two back together.

Both clubs are solid contenders, and Cardinal Newman and Pope John Paul II also both made it to the regional playoffs last season. St. Andrew’s rounds out the field under new Manager Rich Duhon, and the Scots represent a snake in the grass in a field of giants.

“This year is tough,” said American Heritage’s Chris Canavan. “King’s is always going to be a good competitor. We lost to them last year. Pope is always going to be a good competitor. It’s always a good game between us. District is going to be tougher. We just have to play harder.”

With such a competitive field, this district is sure to provide the same sort of close battles that these teams have all come to be known for.

American Heritage-Delray

2013 Record: 13-14
Manager: Carm Mazza
Key Returners: Brendan Brundage, Todd Isaacs, Chris Canavan, Lucius Fox, Jonathan India, Tyler Frank, Anthony Hotujec, Hunter Bowling, Zach Schneider, Frankie Fernandez
Team strengths: Offense & Defense

There’s no way to sugar coat the way the American Heritage-Delray team lost its final game of the 2013 season. Manager Carm Mazza put it simply and succinctly: “Last year was a punch in the chin.”

The sophomore-laden Stallions slogged through one of their toughest seasons, finishing 13-14 and losing in the district championship before facing Coral Springs Christian in the regional quarterfinals. American Heritage rallied to tie the score at 1-1 in the top of the seventh before a rainstorm forced the game to be stopped. The rule book said the game had to revert back to the last completed inning…[Read More]

Cardinal Newman

2013 Record: 18-10
Manager: Sean Comfort
Coaching Staff: Ray Allen, Bill Drohan, Daniel Prieto
Key Returners: Tyler Krull, Bruce Steel, Anthony Zaleski, Luis Bestero, Daniel Cole, Patrick Foley
Team strengths: Offense

Last year was a year of firsts for manager Sean Comfort and his Cardinal Newman Crusaders.

Comfort took over for long-time legendary manager Jack Kokinda, and he led his alma mater to the regional playoffs for the first time in 20 years. The team went 18-10 overall and helped to restore pride and tradition in a program accustomed to such traditions. While there is always room for improvement, overall Comfort knows that it was a successful first season…[Read More]

King’s Academy

2013 Record: 17-13
Manager: Doug Magaw
Coaching Staff: Steve Prince, Mike Cushing, Tony Heminger, Ron Beesley
Key Returners: Ryan Johnson, Dominic Mercurio, James Vaughn, Nick Bates
Team strengths: Offense

While the Lions were eliminated in the regional finals, it was a successful season for Manager Doug Magaw and his program.

“Our goal was to get to the regional championship game again and we did,” Magaw said. “Unfortunately that game didn’t go the way we planned. But I have no complaints. To say that we have been able to get to the elite eight for four straight years is quite an accomplishment.”…[Read More]

Pope John Paul II

2013 Record: 17-12
Manager: Peter Graffeo
Key Returners: Josh Parker, Stephen Gogreve, Alex Bialakis, Johnny Sheridan, Chris Graffeo, Dominic Baldino, Evan Shaffner, Matt Luzzi, Danny Mayer
Newcomers to watch: Cale Brader
Team strengths: Pitching and Offense

One run.

That’s all it takes to win a ballgame. But when you’re on the losing end of that decision in the playoffs, you realize just how close you came to fulfilling your dreams.

It may sound cliché, something a lot of teams say after a year in which their season ended abruptly, but the Pope John Paul II baseball team is using a familiar saying as motivation to guide it after falling just short last year in the regionals…[Read More]

St. Andrew’s

2013 Record: 7-12
Manager: Rich Mahon
Coaching Staff: Mike Thomsen, Adam Shumer, Steven Howey
Key Returners: Alec Ventrice, Jonathan Fechter, Jordan Spitzberg, Cam Hodgeman, Cal Bocchino
Newcomers to watch: Colin Hill, Scott Gellman, Max Costello, Brady McConnell
Team strengths: Offense
Outlook: The outlook for this season is for Saint Andrew’s to get better everyday and have fun doing it. They understand who they are in the district with and they are excited about the competition level for the young guys. They only have three upperclassmen on the roster so they are going to rely heavily on their young guys at times. These guys are learning techniques and drills they’ve never seen before and that is keeping the moral up at practice. Their practices are competitive and high energy. Its also good to see how these young guys respond to adversity. The staff coaches them up and tries to get them to understand that baseball teaches you more about life than any other sport.

“You will fail at something during every practice and every game, its how you respond to that failure that determines what kind of player you are capable of becoming.” said Mahon.

Richie Rocca and Alec Ventrice have been showing some great leadership so far this season. Mahon was able to coach Ventrice when he was in 7th grade on the Scots’ middle school team and he has turned into a great young man. He has a decent arm, and they just have to work on his accuracy a bit.

“We feel Richie Rocca has the potential to be better than his brother Ronnie (’13) who played for us and set a few records here,” Mahon said. “Ronnie had one of the best work ethics I have ever seen in any sport that I have coached. He would have a free period during the day and try to find one of the coaches to supervise him hitting off of the tee. If Richie is able to increase his work ethic a bit we expect him to break Ronnie’s records.”

The Scots also have two incredible freshman in Calvin Bocchino and Brady McConnell that play second base and shortstop. Their skill set is as good as anyone that they will play this year. Their ceiling is very high and they have already been showing the coaches what they are capable of. They look forward to seeing how these guys play against the big boys in the district. Jonathan Frecther, Jordan Spitzberg and Cam Hodgeman are sophomores that will make an impact on the team this year.

“I was able to coach these guys in middle school and they are great young men, very coachable and they would run through a brick wall if we asked them,” said Mahon. “We also have a couple of freshmen in Scott Gellman and Max Costello who have thrown great bullpens and been effective in our preseason games. They will get a lot of innings this season.”

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