Stewart’s Slam Lights Up Mater Dei

It took the Mater Dei offense a few innings to ignite, but once it did, there was little that Bellflower St. John Bosco could do to stop it.

The Monarchs, the second-ranked baseball team in Orange County, scored four runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to erase an early deficit and beat the visiting Braves, 8-3, Wednesday in a Serra League game.

Mater Dei, which had scored 27 runs its previous two games, was held hitless the first three innings by St. John Bosco’s Eric Norbut and trailed, 1-0, entering the bottom of the fourth.

Two walks and a Sergio Santos single--the Monarchs’ first hit--loaded the bases with none out. Norbut retired the next two batters before Tim Stewart lined a 1-0 fastball over the left-field fence for a grand slam and a 4-1 lead.

It was Stewart’s third home run of the season and third in three games.

“I was just looking for a pitch to drive,” he said.

The Monarchs (9-0, 2-0) put the game out of reach the next inning, stringing together five hits to increase their lead to 8-1.

“We were flat coming out and were swinging at some bad pitches” Monarch Coach Burt Call said. “It took a little while to get the intensity going.”

Ryan Kelly (3-0) picked up the victory for Mater Dei, striking out six in 5 2/3 innings, but faltered in the sixth, giving up two runs. He left the game with runners on first and third, but reliever Anthony Slama struck out Chad Perez looking to end the threat.

“These league games are tough,” Call said. “We just had to relax and play baseball, like we’ve been doing all year.”

Richard Mercado also homered for Mater Dei, a two-run shot for his third in two games and fifth of the season. He and Mike Harris each scored twice for the Monarchs.

Derek Williams had two hits and drove in two runs for the Braves (3-8, 1-1) the defending league champion who had beaten Servite, 1-0, in the league opener.

Williams drove in the game’s first run on a squeeze play in the fourth that scored Norbut.