“I didn’t know I had a perfect game until the bottom of the 7th.”
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A perfect night for Max Mendes, a perfect night for San Joaquin Memorial baseball. Mendes dished out 72 pitches in seven innings of work and came out with a perfect game as the Panthers squeaked out a 1-0 win against Madera on Tuesday night. There was a lot more to celebrate for the Panthers, who sealed the victory when Nate Etchegoinberry drove in Donato Blanchette for a walk-off win.
While Mendes was getting praises for his incredible performance, he wanted to show love to his teammates for the gutsy win.
“These are the things that make you love the game more, the goal is to win and compete and when we can do that along with something like this it makes it special, but more importantly I’m happy about the win,” the senior said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to be able to play at the school I do and for my teammates and coaches. Without them, games like this can’t happen.”
As he focused on leading his team to a win, Mendes didn’t realize that he was on the verge of pulling off something he will not forget.
“To be honest I didn’t know I had a perfect game until the bottom of the 7th after we came off the field from defense,” he said. “I was just trying to get our guys back in the win column and change the momentum. So the thought of something like that wasn’t crossing my mind.”
Still, the California State University, Northridge commit is not surprised by what he has done.
“God has blessed me with so many things, he gave me my ability to play and with him anything is possible, I trust the hard work that I’ve put in and the things I’ve learned from Coach Meusborn and Coach Laurita at Memorial along with all the other coaches that I’ve had,” Mendes said. “They’ve given me a strong base to be able to put in the work I need to on a daily basis. So, no, something like this doesn’t surprise me.”
It was a pivotal victory for San Joaquin Memorial, who now stand third in the CMAC. The Panthers (3-5) hold the same record as Madera after Tuesday’s win.
“Our team played great and has been playing great all year, we’ve had some tough losses that could’ve gone either way, but we always are able to bounce back the next game and change the momentum, our defense was lockdown,” Mendes said. “My boys had my back the whole game making routine and tough plays that we needed to be made.”
Mendes, who was named to second team all CMAC in 2023, is especially excited to see how the younger players will lead the program after he leaves. The senior said one of those key rising stars is catcher Max McMurray.
“My catcher Max McMurray did a great job behind the plate and is an important part of our team as a freshman, he’s going to lead this team one day,” Mendes said. “And obviously with the walk off to end it you couldn’t have asked for a better ending. We just executed our plays and Nate Etchgoinberry got the job done at the plate, he’s also been an important part to our team. Overall the team played great and had my back the whole time so my shoutout goes to them.”