American Heritage Gets Second Win Over Pope John Paul

Anthony Hotujec beat the Eagles for the second time this season.

Pope John Paul II and American Heritage Delray have been here before. For the past two seasons, the Stallions have swept the Eagles in regular season play. Last year, the Eagles got the last laugh though, defeating the Stallions in the 3A-13 title game.

This year the district was bumped up to 4A classification, but the script has stayed pretty much the same. After beating the Eagles by a score of 5-1 on February 21st, Heritage completed the season sweep on Monday afternoon when they traveled to Pope John Paul II and came away with an 8-1 victory. The win improved the Stallions record to 8-3 with a perfect 5-0 mark in 4A-13, while the Eagles fell to 5-4 with a 2-3 district record.

When the teams met in February, it was Anthony Hotujec who earned the win, pitching six innings of shut-out ball while fanning ten. This time around, Hotujec received the call again and responded in kind. He pitched all seven innings on Monday, allowing only two hits, and striking out five. The only run he gave up was unearned, a result of a balk in the fourth inning. The win is his fourth of the season, tying him for tops in Palm Beach County.

“He threw strikes,” said American Heritage manager Carm Mazza. “I think he struck out four or five. He didn’t walk anybody. He worked quick and he did a really good job and that set the tone.”

Hotujec acknowledged that having faced the Eagles before was of some benefit.

“I know they’re a very good hitting team,” he said. “So all I do is attack the zone, try to get ahead fast and try to work my way through. Luckily, I’ve been doing that recently.”

He was also a star for Heritage at the plate, helping his cause when he brought the first two Stallions across with a two-out, RBI double in the top of the second.

“He’s a really good off-speed pitcher,” Hotujec said of his rival on the mound, Johnny Sheridan. “I was waiting for a fastball and he gave me one and I put a good bat on it,” he continued in reference to his big hit, which was his third double of the season.

Sheridan found himself in more two-out trouble in the third, giving up back-to-back hits for the third Stallions run of the game. First Tyler Frank tagged him for a single to center field, then Zach Schneider followed with a high fly ball to right field that dropped in for a double. It was Schneider’s second hit of the night, and he went a perfect 2-for-2 while also reaching on an error. Frank went 2-for-4, scored two runs and drove in another.

Hotujec faced the minimum through the first three innings, setting down the side in order each time out. Dominic Baldino, Pope John Paul’s lead-off man, put an end to that in the fourth, crushing the very first pitch he saw to deep left field for a double. Christopher Graffeo then moved him to third with a ground out to second base and Baldino scored when Hotujec was called for one of two balks on the night during the next at-bat.

Sheridan seemed to reach back and find a little something extra during his time on the hill in the fourth inning. He had his first 1-2-3 inning and struck out two batters before taking a seat for the night.

“They were all working today,” Sheridan said of his pitches, “I felt alright, just couldn’t get it done.”

The Stallions added two more runs, both unearned, against Sheridan’s replacement, Josh Parker, in the fifth and sixth innings. After Chris Canavan reached on a fielder’s choice in the fifth, he advanced to third on a stolen base and throwing error. Jonathan India then brought him home with a sacrifice fly to center field. In the sixth, Schneider reached on an error, then stole second. Brendan Brundage moved him to third with a ground out and Todd Isaacs brought him home when he singled with a hard ground ball down the third base line.

Both instances made Mazza proud.

“We’ve worked on our situational hitting,” he explained after the game. “Hitting behind runners, driving the ball, getting the job done with guys on third with less than two outs. We’ve worked on all that and we’re making it happen.”

They made it happen again in the seventh, leading off the inning with three straight hits. India first reached on a single, making him 2-for-3 on the night. He stole second and third and then was driven in by Frank, who also singled. Jack Campbell, for whom Schneider had previously hit, then made the most of his first at-bat, driving a ball deep into the left-center field gap for a double. Isaacs brought Frank around with a sacrifice fly and Campbell scored off of a base hit by Hunter Bowling, running the final score to 8-1.

“We put a mission in front of these guys at the beginning of the season and they’re making it look good right now,” said Mazza of his club. “They’re doing everything we’ve asked.”

Pope John Paul’s manager, Peter Graffeo, agrees with Mazza.

“That’s a very good baseball team,” he said of the opposition. “They outplayed us in every aspect for the second time.”

He’s also confident that his boys can regroup and make another run in the district race.

“Our expectations are that we can beat anybody. And we know what we’re capable of when we’re on it. Right now, I wouldn’t say that we’re really on it.” Which isn’t to say that he doesn’t think they can get there. “We’re going to fight,” he continued. “These guys are going to work hard and it’s our job to coach them up and get them focused and try to fix it.”

Christian Falgons dives back to first while Hunter Bowling mans the bag.

Mazza and his kids are also aware that while the Eagles may be down for the moment, they certainly aren’t out.

“They do a good job over there,” Mazza explained. “They come geared up for us. We come geared up for them. It’s a good rivalry. They’re going to come at us no matter what.”

Sheridan, The Eagles starting pitcher, also looks forward to another opportunity against the Stallions.

“We beat them last year. I have to believe that didn’t make them too happy,” he said. “They got the better of us this year. We’ll have to see what happens.”

While the Pope John Paul would certainly like to make another run at the district title, there’s no denying that it will be harder this time around. The district is now comprised of five teams instead of just three and the Eagles are in third place. They will get a chance to make up some ground when they visit St. Andrews on Thursday afternoon for another district match-up.

Meanwhile, American Heritage sits comfortably atop the district standings. They will take on Santaluces on Wednesday before heading to Park Vista on Friday for a showdown with the undefeated Cobras.

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