Aquinas baseball earns first state crown in 15 years

By Lynn Ramsey - Florida Catholic

MIAMI | When St. Thomas Aquinasbaseball came up with the motto “Finish It,” little did the Raiders know they would need to rely on that motto in the two biggest games of the year.

Thanks to the Raiders’ ability to finish in the state semifinals and championship game, they won the state championship for the first time since 2003.

The desire to finish came after last year’s team lost to rival Davie Nova 4-3 in 12 innings. That came after the Raiders took a 3-0 lead in the second. “We can’t jump on them, then think we have it,” Raiders coach Troy Cameron said. “We have to keep our focus. Our motto this year was to ‘Finish It.’ Even our playoff t-shirts this year had that motto.”

Cameron also relied on his previous experience to help the Raiders handle the stresses of the state tournament. He had coached the USA National Team that won a gold medal in Colombia. But the first state tournament coaching his alma mater in 2013 taught him a rough lesson.

“The game sped up on me a little bit,” Cameron said. “Things were happening a little faster than I wanted. This year, I had an understanding of how it was going to go. I could slow the game down. If I can, then I can help the team slow it down. That was probably the biggest lesson learned for me. I wanted to make the right adjustment this time around.”

 

FIELDING ALL THE PLAYS

St. Thomas Aquinas routed their three regional tournament foes, including a 10-1 victory over Davie Nova. Then the Raiders faced some of their biggest challenges in a 6-3 state semifinal victory against Lakeland George Jenkins. Trailing 3-1, the Raiders had to score one run in the sixth inning and one run in the seventh to force extra innings.

After Andres Antonini’s sacrifice fly in the seventh sent the game to the eighth inning, Chris Ruckdeschel hit an inside-the-park two-run home run to break a 3-3 tie just before a 5 �-hour rain delay; Gabe Terry’s RBI double put the Raiders up 6-3. Nate Thomas got the victory, pitching two shutout innings of relief. Matt Archer went 3 for 5, while Nick Vera also had a solo home run and drove in two runs.

The Raiders clinched the state championship with an 8-4 victory over Sarasota to finish a 27-3 year. Against Sarasota, University of North Carolina signee Caleb Roberts went 3 for 4 with two triples and four RBIs. Antonini went 3 for 4 with two RBIs. Thomas got the win by allowing one earned run in 4 2/3 innings of relief.

In that game, the Raiders led 5-1 through four innings, then gave up three runs to Sarasota in the bottom of the sixth. Roberts hit a three-run triple in the seventh to ensure the victory. That hit gave Roberts a school-record 53 RBIs for the season, breaking the record of 48 set by Chad Mottola in 1989.

According to Cameron, Mottola was best known for being the draft pick just before New York Yankees’ hall-of-famer-to-be Derek Jeter. Now Mottola is currently a hitting coach for the Tampa Bay Rays.

Thomas, a sophomore, finished the season with an 8-0 record.

 

HIGH EXPECTATIONS

The Raiders reached the region final in 2017 despite losing three key players to injuries � pitcher Blake Hely to a fractured ankle, Roberts to a fractured hip and Ruckdeschel to a fractured wrist. All three of those players starred this year, especially in the state tournament.

Cameron said this year’s team actually believed they could win it all. “The seniors believed within themselves that they’d be able to have a little better season. Last year set the beliefs that we could do it this year.”

A roster featuring six Division I signees and five who signed with colleges at other levels doesn’t hurt either. The Raiders had a potent offense, with their top five hitters batting .426 or higher. The team as a whole hit .397 with 25 home runs. Roberts hit a team-high .506 with six home runs to go with his school-record 53 RBIs. Archer, Wade Iben, Antonini and Gabe Terry also hit .426 or better.

Hely built on his 2017 success, posting a 10-2 record with a 0.81 earned-runs average.

The Raiders’ key injury loss came on the mound, when senior left-hander James Lockrie tore his labrum in the summer. Cameron said he was proud that Thomas filled the gap left by Lockrie’s injury. “For him to be a sophomore to get to learn from Blake and see how he went about his business, it’ll help Nate over the next two years.”

Thomas wasn’t the only surprise. Terry did not begin as a starter, but came in five games into the season and never returned to the bench. Cameron especially raved at Iben, a senior who didn’t play much as a junior. But he hit .450 for the season.

“That’s unheard of,” Cameron said. “It’s one thing to put up numbers like that. But this was the hardest schedule we played.”

 

TOUGH SCHEDULE

Many teams talk about playing a tough schedule. But St. Thomas Aquinas players were serious about it. Cameron said that a brutal schedule helps a team come playoff time.

“I thought I’d scheduled a hard schedule last year, but our schedule didn’t turn out as hard,” he said. “A couple kids asked us if we could schedule really hard teams. I went out of my way to schedule tough.”

That led to scheduling teams such as Lilburn, Ga. Parkview, which is a national power. They played at least three teams that won state championships last year.

But a regular home-and-home series against Maitland Orangewood Christian led to a last-minute scheduling of Florida 9A defending champ Orlando Timber Creek. The Raiders lost to Parkview 5-0, a game where they allowed five unearned runs. They also lost to Timber Creek 3-0, allowing two unearned runs. However, Timber Creek was the last team to beat St. Thomas Aquinas.

“From those games, what we learned the most is if we play better baseball we’d have a chance to win,” Cameron said. “Essentially, I let our kids know that we can beat anyone in the country if we play better baseball. We made adjustments, then won 24 of our last 25.”

But to reach the state tournament, the Raiders had to beat rival Davie Nova, a team they lost to in last year’s region final. They had played Nova twice this year, winning both, including the 10-1 region-final victory.

“Nova is our rival. They were a rival even when I was at St. Thomas Aquinas,” Cameron said. “That’s a game we circled on our calendar. A couple years ago, the districts realigned and we didn’t play. The following year, I had called (Nova coach) Pat McQuade and said we have to get this game back on the schedule.”

The Raiders had won 11 straight against Nova going into last year’s region final. But the 4-3 loss in the regional final was what Cameron called “a little smack in the face. Not only did we lose to our rival, but also in the most important time of the year. It gave us more focus.”

 

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

Now that the Raiders won the title, Cameron is confident that this year’s seniors have set a foundation for the team to build upon. He said they set a winning culture his team has been seeking for the last five years. Returning 19 players, including 14 who will be seniors next year, will give them a great chance.

“If they can grow the culture of what our program stands for, I don’t see any reason why we can’t repeat next year,” he said.

After all, the school and community give the Raiders plenty of support to the baseball and softball teams. Not only financially but in traveling to support the team.

“I went to school here, so I know what the school did for me,” he said. “It blew me away how many people root for us. The farther and farther we got along, the more we recognized how people support us. It’s a special place.”