Game of the Week: Cardinal Gibbons vs. St. Thomas Aquinas

Florida State-bound Alec Byrd is St. Thomas’ ace.

When Cardinal Gibbons Manager Frank Pisani handed out the team’s 2013 schedule, his players all immediately circled one game that they were looking forward to.

On Saturday the Chiefs will get their chance to face their biggest rival when they travel to St. Thomas Aquinas in the first-ever High School Baseball Network Game of the Week in Broward.

The Game of the Week concept was created by HSBN with the intention of raising money for the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Foundation, while also giving fans something to get excited for each week, and with two traditional heavyweights facing off in week one, excitement couldn’t be higher.

“Anytime you have Cardinal Gibbons playing against St. Thomas in any sport, it’s a big deal. It’s going to be like the Yankees versus the Red Sox,” Pisani said. “We are expecting a great atmosphere. The stands are always packed for these games, and it is always an electric environment.”

Although this school rivalry has managed to hold strong over the years, this season it has added fuel to the fire since the Raiders new Manager, Troy Cameron, is a close friend and former teammate of Pisani. After growing up together and playing as teammates in the Sunrise Little League, both players then played their high school baseball together at St. Thomas.

“I’ve known Frank a long time, and we genuinely root for each other. Any other time, that is,” Cameron joked. “It will be a great experience to face each other. But, of course, I want to put it to him same as anyone would. Cardinal Gibbons is one of the few schools we must never lose to. They’ve always had such great teams since even back then, and our players circled that game on the schedule as well.”

In 1995, when the two were teammates, it was the sophomore Cameron who in fact earned the starting job at shortstop over Pisani, who was a senior.

That season, the Raiders went on to win the school’s first state title in baseball, which was also only the second time a Broward County baseball team had achieved such a feat at that time.

Fittingly, the first title belongs to Cardinal Gibbons, which it won at the end of the 1987 season.

“I still got my state ring, too,” Pisani joked. “Even when he was a younger player, I knew Troy was a special player who would make it. He got drafted, and he had a nice minor-league career. He made it far with baseball. But it would be nice to beat them Saturday.”

Tyler Norris is an infielder on the Gibbons squad.

As per a new tradition for the Game of the Week, each team will select someone to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. While Cardinal Gibbons has yet to finalize their plans for this honor, St. Thomas’ own Ed Waters will throw out their first pitch. Waters has not only been with the school for 37 years, but he also coached that 1995 championship team that both managers played on.

“Ed Waters is a legend,” Pisani said. “He coached many great baseball players, and he brought St. Thomas its first state title.”

This marquee match up coming so early in the season is something that both coaches look forward to. Both squads play an incredibly difficult schedule this season, which is always done with the expectation that it will prepare them for a deep postseason run against competition equally as difficult.

The opportunity for added exposure for such an important game for both schools is something that each program welcomes.

“The biggest goal is to teach the kids about baseball and life. But this kind of exposure helps get them to the next level,” Cameron said. “To be a part of the first Game of the Week is an honor. What HSBN does really helps the kids. It’s great they get to see their names in the stories, their family members and school alumni can track the games. It’s a Game of the Week for us even without the coverage, but it is exciting to be a part of this.”

For Pisani and the Chiefs, it is a chance to show his alma mater how far he has come by defeating them in front of a spotlight audience.

“Everybody will be reading about Cardinal Gibbons against St. Thomas,” Pisani said. “It’s great for the kids of both schools. HSBN has done a tremendous job to give publicity to South Florida, and the kids loving seeing themselves on the website. The teams are pretty similar, both with good pitching, and it figures to be a low-scoring game. Whatever team can manufacture a run at the end will win it.”

This game is being brought to Broward county thanks to our Game of the Week Sponsor – Martinez Baseball Academy. Please click the link to learn more about the great things the Martinez Baseball Academy does for baseball players in Broward.

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