Wood's Mandes cool as ice

MATT MANDES is experiencing one of those go-figure springs.

He played some shaky baseball when the weather was cold, then emerged as the ultimate hero on an early April day with outrageously warm temperatures.

The 5-9, 175-pound Mandes, a junior and lefty swinger, serves Archbishop Wood High as the second baseman and leadoff hitter. His other sport - and he's the only diamond Viking who plays this - is ice hockey, and this past winter, skating at center, he finished second on the team in scoring.

"My dad is really big into hockey," Mandes said. "He got me into it when I was very young. It's not a game that many kids play, but I picked it up and loved it. My dad and I were always down in the basement, shooting pucks at each other.

"But my favorite, by far, is baseball. Even when I'm on the ice, I want to be on the diamond. Even when I'm in the classroom, I want to be on the diamond. When seventh period comes around, I'm looking out the window, ready to get out on the field."

He laughed. "My grades suffer because of that, but . . . "

Wednesday, Wood hosted Ss. Neumann-Goretti in an entertaining Catholic Blue contest, and Mandes wound up getting pummeled. In a good way.

Overall, he went 2-for-4 with three RBI and made solid contact in all four at-bats. His best was his last, however, namely because it lifted the Vikings to a 5-4 win.

Down by one run, Wood sent 7-8-9 to the plate to start the home seventh. Tommy Rosenbaum worked a full-count walk against righthander John La Motta, who's committed to Marymount University in Virginia. Jack Hilferty and Colt Smith contributed perfect sacrifice bunts that were followed by costly bobbles.

Bases loaded. Second pitch. Ding! Mandes lashed a shot into left-center, scoring Rosenbaum and Hilferty and causing all Vikes to erupt in joy. They ran to the plate to congratulate 'Baum and Hilf. Then they turned and made beelines for the unflappable Mandes.

"That single up the middle [in the fifth; created a 3-3 tie] gave me a lot of confidence going into that last at-bat," he said. "I figured there was no way he was going to get me out. There was no way I wasn't going to knock in those runs.

"That was my fourth at-bat against him. I felt I'd seen everything he had. There was nothing he could throw that could fool me. After he threw the first-pitch curveball, which missed down and in, I was sitting dead red and I was ready for it."

Next, Mandes channeled Chris Wheeler.

"It was middle in," he said.

Mandes' last name is pronounced as if there are multiple E's toward the end. And lately, that hasn't been Matt's favorite letter.

He was guilty of a bobble in this one (no harm). But Monday, against the same opponent, he committed an error that, he said, caused the Vikings to lose.

"I tried to start a doubleplay before I even had the ball," he said. "Went right through my legs. That was bad. Very frustrating.

"We're all friends on this team, but I was taking some pretty good ribbing these past few days. I really wanted to make up for that error."

As the leadoff man, Mandes, who lives in Ivyland, goes somewhat against the prescribed grain.

"I'm not really much for taking pitches," he said. "I like to hack at first-pitch fastballs. That's when I'm at my best. Coach 'Dege' [Jim DiGuiseppe Jr.] gives me the go-ahead. He says, 'If you can hit it, go get it.' "

In the first, Mandes sent a rocket right off La Motta's back. John recovered to get the out.

"Nice play by him," Mandes said. "It was kind of a deflating feeling, but I did hit it hard and I knew I'd have more at-bats."

The win went to fireballer Brian Wojtko, who worked a 1-2-3 frame in relief of lefty Justin Babb (five hits in six innings). La Motta surrendered seven hits.

Wood's first two runs were scored by the Santospago brothers, catcher John "Beef" and centerfielder Joe. John tallied in the second on Rosenbaum's fielder's choice after getting plunked in the helmet. Joe singled to open the fourth and came around on John's single/error combo.

For N-G, frosh centerfielder Brian Verratti went 2-for-2 with a walk and a plunk for two RBI. Junior first baseman Josh Ockimey, an Arkansas commit, added an RBI single.

Oh, one last thing about Wood's winning rally.

Right as it started, the temperature happened to drop by at least 5 degrees, if not 10. No Zambonis were spotted, but a hockey guy did wind up icing the victory.