McCarthy Showcase Game At Sun Life Stadium Postponed To Monday

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the players of Archbishop McCarthy and Florida Christian High to compete on the Florida Marlin’s home playing field will have to wait until Monday, thanks to continual rain that made the field unplayable on Saturday afternoon.

The Mavericks (19-3), the defending state champions in Class 4A and ranked #2 in the nation by Baseball America, were set to face off against the Patriots (18-3) Saturday afternoon at Sun Life Stadium in the second game of a series of premiere match ups between some of the area’s select programs.

That game has now been moved to Monday afternoon, with a start time tentatively scheduled for 3:30 P.M.

“We can play a game of whiffleball in the parking lot,” joked Mavericks coach Rich Bielski to Florida Christian coach Ernie Padron as the two sides negotiated a make-up time following word the game could not be played Saturday. “The kids will remember that forever, too.”

Moving the game to Monday is not an ideal situation for either team, as both will now have three scheduled contests next week. With it being the final week of the regular season, both teams would have preferred the extra day of preparation for its district opponents. But Coach Bielski did not want to miss out on the chance for his players to enjoy this unique opportunity.

“These guys are going to hit in the same batter’s box as Hanley Ramirez, the pitchers will throw off the same mound that Josh Beckett did to win the World Series,” said Bielski. “I just wish we could bat 11 or 12 deep so everyone can get a chance to play.”

Both teams had made a special request to the state to play the game on Sunday, but that was quickly denied as the FHSAA is well-known to avoid allowing any high school sporting events on Sundays.

The Mavericks tentatively plan to have junior left-hander Andre Martinez start Monday’s game, but plan to use as many as six pitchers total so each can get a chance to play on the Marlin’s home field.

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