09-05-2025
Mater Academy outlasts Varela to secure first trip to state baseball final four since 2014
Nearly three months ago, Mater Academy shortstop Brandon Lorenzo was dealing with an injury and unsure when he'd be back on the field.
The Lions were 1-5 and questioning how good a team which entered the season with high expectations really was.
On Thursday night at Westland Gardens Park, Lorenzo hit a grand slam and later ran around the field celebrating with his teammates and coaches after the final out was recorded on a 10-8 victory over Varela.
If you would have told Lorenzo this scene would play out three months earlier, he might not have believed it.
'I knew we could flip the page at any moment,' Lorenzo said. 'We did. I really believe in my guys. They're like family to me.'
The victory secured a 2-0 series win for the Lions (23-9-1) over the Vipers (20-10-2) and the Region 4-5A championship. It also propelled Mater Academy to the state final four for the first time since it won its lone state championship in 2014.
The Lions will face either Fort Myers or Braden River next Thursday at either 10 a.m. or 1 in a state semifinal at Hammond Stadium.
'We played a great team in Varela, but hey, I'll take my guys into battle any day,' Mater Academy coach Humberto Bencomo said. 'We faced a lot of adversity, people looking at each other, even us as coaches, we were pointing fingers and trying to figure out what was going wrong. Once we got into March, we started playing at home and we started playing better.'
Following a 5-2 victory over Varela in the first game of the series on Tuesday, the Lions found themselves trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning.
But Mater put together a major response, scoring nine runs, highlighted by Lorenzo's grand slam.
Earlier in the inning, Lorenzo hit a double to right field and came around to score on another double by Alfrin Rosario, which opened the scoring in that frame. Lorenzo had two doubles overall as he went 3-for-3 with four RBI. Jonathan Esponda also went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Jacob Amador went 2-for-3.
'It was just me and the pitcher and the ball,' Lorenzo said. 'They were pitching me fastball all day, and I proved to them that I could hit the fastball with two doubles in the first couple of innings so they came with a curveball in that at-bat and I hammered it. I got close the first two times, but I did some pushups in the dugout and got a little extra juice for that one.'
The Vipers, who made it to the regional final for the first time, were resilient themselves, as they put together three runs in the top of the fifth to chase Mater starter Jeuri La Rosa after he gave up seven runs on 10 hits over 4 ⅓ innings.
Nick Baluja led Varela, going 2-for-3 with two RBI while Jiovanni Zara had two RBI and Luis Sosa had a double.
The Lions called upon closer Vladi Baldespina early with the goal of recording the final eight outs.
Although he allowed one more Varela run in the sixth when Armando Mendez scored on a wild pitch, Baldepina limited the damage and later worked a perfect seventh to end the game.
'He's been hungry and dealing with a few little things,' Bencomo said. 'This is where it counted.'
Mater Academy's tough early stretch led to a positive turn which saw the Lions win eight of their next nine. Bencomo said a major turning point was a road trip in late March to play in a tournament in Las Vegas where Mater swept all three games and finally had its full lineup including Lorenzo.
'That's when we really took off,' Bencomo said. 'We played incredibly over there. It was so many things, hitting, defense, everything. This is amazing.'
