Same hitter. Same pitch. Similar situation.
Albert Fernandez was at bat with the chance to win a championship for Monsignor Scanlan. It was the catcher who struck out looking to end last year’s finals and the memory had been eating him up inside ever since.
“I was so confident,” Crusaders coach Keith Del Valle said. “I wanted Albert at the plate – nobody else. He needed it.”
Fernandez didn’t disappoint. St. John’s Prep pitcher Gabe Adams threw him an inside fastball and the senior chopped it into the hole between shortstop and third base. The Red Storm also tried to bust him inside in the same spot last season.
“It didn’t work this time,” Fernandez said. “Thank God.”
Pinch-runner Brian Cantero came in from third and top-seeded Monsignor Scanlan pulled out a 3-2, walk-off win over No. 6 and rival St. John’s Prep to win its second CHSAA Class A title in three years. Fernandez, pitcher Christian Lozano and first baseman Michael Soto – who have dubbed themselves The Big Three because they’ve been together since they were freshmen – shed tears of joy after the victory.
“Last year he made a big mistake, but this year he finished it,” an emotional, choked-up Lozano said. “He fought until he got his pitch.”
Scanlan (11-4) went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth when Ruban Collazo was hit by an Adams pitch and came around to score on an error. But like it has been with these two teams – this is their fourth straight meeting in the finals – St. John’s Prep (8-8) answered back.
Carlos Mayorga walked with one out against Scanlan reliever Joel Paulino, moved to second on a Mike Aspenleiter walk, took third on Michael Perez’s single and scored on an error to tie the game at 1.
“We can never put them away easy,” Fernandez said.
The blown save spoiled a great outing by Lozano, who gave up one run on four hits with five strikeouts in six innings. The lone run came in the first on an Edwin Vidal RBI double, but the senior right-hander settled down to allow just two more hits. Fernandez drove in Scanlan’s first run on an RBI single, also in the first inning.
In between, there were twists and turns. Adams gave up just the three runs with nine strikeouts, but Scanlan had seven hits and ample opportunities to score. Aspenleiter threw out three runners at the plate, including two on the same play – a rare feat – in the fourth inning. Lozano was right on Julius Ubarri’s heels and Vidal, the catcher, tagged them both out one after another.
Del Valle could laugh about it afterward. This was his first title as head coach after his older brother, Kevin, led the Crusaders to the crown in 2010. Kevin is now the Salesian coach and he was watching from the bleachers Sunday as his brother took home another crown.
“I just had to get it done to calm the heckling down at the dinner table,” Keith Del Valle said.
Fernandez needed to do it for himself, to erase the nightmares from last season.
“It bothered me up until that at bat right there,” Fernandez said. … “When I got to first base, I teared up. It’s probably the last time I’m gonna play with those guys. I love them.”