By Dave Brousseau

The greatest of opportunities come and go, but on this Saturday the St. Thomas Aquinas baseball teams’ chance finally came to fruition.

Since the Raiders first state championship in 1995 under the leadership of former coach Ed Waters, Aquinas has fallen short three times of winning back-to-back titles.

Led by sophomore Mauricio Clements three RBI, St. Thomas finally snapped the drought with a 5-1 victory for the Class 6A title over Gainesville Buchholz at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers on Saturday.

 After championships seasons in 2003 under coach Robert Lawson and under coach Troy Cameron the Raiders fell short of successfully defending their title.

With the win, St. Thomas (28-6) joined Douglas, Nova, Archbishop McCarthy and North Broward Prep as the only Broward County teams with consecutive state baseball titles.

With consecutive championships, coach Joey Wardlow has led his team to 57-12-1 record. The combined two-year victory total is the most in the past 25 seasons for the Raiders.

Senior starting pitcher Joseph Hendren held Buchholz to two hits over five innings, allowing a single earned run, while striking out three.

Hayden Robinson added a pair of hits and an RBI. Brady Buxbaum also had an RBI.

Dave Brousseau is a veteran journalist who worked at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and is a longtime BCAA Correspondent. Need to reach out to him? Contact him at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.