Macario Mendez, left, will play for Columbus North in Saturday’s baseball regional, and his older brother Mateo will run for the Bull Dogs in Friday’s Boys Track and Field State Finals.
Submitted photo
The Mendez brothers will be competing in postseason events in two different sports this weekend, but they bring to the table a common trait — speed.
Senior Mateo Mendez will lace up his spikes for Columbus North in the 800 meters and 4×800 relay in Friday’s Boys Track and Field State Finals at Indiana University. His brother Macario Mendez is a freshman on the Bull Dog baseball team that will play Class 4A No. 1 Center Grove in the regional at 3 p.m. Saturday at Jasper.
“It’s cool to see him because my freshman year, I didn’t have a track season because of COVID,” Mateo said. “But I started soccer as a freshman, and I think it’s cool to see my brother playing varsity baseball. I’ve been watching them all season, and I think they’re a really good team. If they play their cards right, they’ll have a great game at regional.”
Both Mateo and Macario played soccer growing up. Mateo played varsity soccer his first two years of high school before switching to cross-country as a junior.
Macario ran cross-country in middle school at St. Peter’s and was a Lutheran School All-American as an eighth-grader. He was on the JV soccer team as a freshman, but plans to play football this fall.
“I thought football was going to be a better opportunity for more playing time, and I thought it was just suited better for me,” Macario said.
In baseball this spring, Macario split his time between the JV and varsity. He has been used mostly as a pinch runner or courtesy runner for the varsity.
Macario pinch ran and scored the winning run in the sixth inning of a come-from-behind 7-2 win against Whiteland in Monday’s sectional final at East Central.
“I think it’s a great opportunity,” Macario said. “I’m glad the coaches allowed me to come up here, and I hope that I can continue to perform for them and just do whatever they ask me to. Hopefully next year, I’ll get a chance at the outfield, too, but I like where I am now, and I’m glad that they’re allowing me to do this.”
“As a freshman coming in, he’s learning how to do what he needs to do,” North baseball coach Mike Bodart added. “We’re working on reading balls (in the outfield) and getting good jumps and stuff like that. Obviously, speed is not something that we can teach, so we’re working on all the fine points of what he needs to do when he’s on the basepaths.”
Columbus North’s Mateo Mendez, left edges out Center Grove’s Jarrett Rockwell to finish second in the 800 meters in the boys track regional at Greenfield-Central High School on Thursday, May 25, 2023.
The Republic file photo
Mateo, meanwhile finished 20th in the Boys Cross Country State Finals last fall to earn All-State honors and led the Bull Dogs to a fourth-place team finish. Two weeks later, he committed to continue his cross-country and track career at University of Louisville.
Last track season, Mateo was part of North’s state record-setting 4×800 relay team. He is the anchor on this year’s 4×800 team that is seeded fourth for Friday’s state finals and also made it in the 800 this year.
So who is faster? It’s likely that Mateo is better at the longer distances, but Macario might have an edge in a sprint.
“I want to race him in the 100,” Mateo said. “I think after he’s done with baseball for this year, and I’m done with state, we might do a little race in the 100. I think he’ll get me anything 80 meters and down because he has that leg speed I don’t have.”
Mateo and Macario have a younger brother Marquez, a sixth-grader. Their father Sal is happy to see all of them thriving and having fun at their sports.
“I think it’s a privilege for them to be able to do so,” Sal said. “They have an amazing team around both of them. The baseball team has turned things around at the end of the year and continues to play solid. Mateo has great support from his coaching staff and his teammates around him, as well. As a parent, that’s all you can ask for.”
