St. Thomas Aquinas’ Brady Buxbaum homers twice on mom’s birthday

The Raiders hammer out four home runs and defeat Spanish River, 11-1

Brady Buxbaum belted two home runs for St. Thomas Aquinas against Spanish River. After his second shot, the Raiders' first baseman flashed two fingers in the direction of his mother. Both home runs came on Buxbaum's mom's birthday. | Joe Frisaro

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA -- Brady Buxbaum on Wednesday night gave his mother a birthday to remember.

The junior first baseman delivered not one, but two, mammoth home runs in St. Thomas Aquinas’ 11-1 win over Spanish River, in South Florida high school baseball action.

The multi-home run game came on Buxbaum’s mother’s birthday. Rounding third base and approaching home plate on each home run, the University of South Florida recruit pointed in the direction of his mom.

The first home run was a two-run moon shot in the first inning, giving St. Thomas (15-4-1) an early three-run lead. In the third inning, Buxbaum again crushed a solo shot, making it 4-0.

Approaching the plate after his second blast, Buxbaum flashed two fingers before pointing at his mom.

After that, Spanish River didn’t give Buxbaum anything to hit. In his third plate appearance, he walked. And in his fourth, he was intentionally walked.

Still, the Raiders weren’t done connecting on home runs. In the fifth inning, Cole Lasher connected on a grand slam. And finally, with the Raiders up 9-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, catcher Jayden LeBoeuf crushed a two-out, three-run home run to left field.

St. Thomas’ fourth home run of the night gave the Raiders an 11-1 lead, promptly ending the game via the 10-run mercy rule, which kicks in after five innings.

The Raiders, riding a seven-game winning streak, are one of the hottest teams in the state. In the latest High School on SI’s Top 25 baseball state rankings, St. Thomas Aquinas is rated 19th.

Run production has skyrocketed during the winning streak. In each game, the Raiders scored more than 10 runs, and they have 94 runs total (a 13.4 per game average), during the streak.

St. Thomas is receiving production up and down the lineup. Against Spanish River, the Raiders had 10 hits, giving starting pitcher Julian Diaz plenty of support. In five innings, Diaz allowed one run and struck out seven.

Other contributors on Wednesday were outfielder Zack Malvasio, who had two hits (including a double off the wall) and he scored twice. Malvasio, a Central Florida recruit, leads the nation with 10 home runs, per MaxPreps.

Jonathan Lopez, a Florida Atlantic recruit, added a double and single.

St. Thomas next plays Marjory Stoneman Douglas (17-2) at home on Tuesday, April 1.

Douglas, ranked No. 1 in the state in the High School on SI, suffered a rare loss on Wednesday, falling 5-4 at Sickles Tampa.

During Spring Break for public schools in Broward County, Douglas played three straight days in the Tampa area, winning two of three. On Monday, Douglas Santa Fe Catholic Lakeland, 5-0, and followed that up with a win at state-ranked Jesuit Tampa, 7-4.

The one-run loss to Sickles snapped Douglas’ 16-game winning streak.