Sarasota Athlete of the Week: Mateu Dalmau

Cardinal Mooney baseball is off to a 5-0 start on the new season. Navy commit Mateu Dalmau has been a considerable contributor to winning ways with a .562 batting average thus far. The senior first baseman/pitcher has racked up a team-high eight RBIs on nine hits, including two triples and doubles apiece. Dalmau is the Sarasota Athlete of the Week.

This team is off to a stellar start. What's been the secret behind that success?

We're a pretty experienced team. Basically our whole team is juniors and seniors. Our first game, we didn't play great, but these past couple games — defensively, especially — we've been doing well. We've hit well all year. As the season goes on and we put it together defensively, I think we'll set ourselves up for a deep postseason run.

You've been all over the bases so far, what's worked well for you at the plate?

Mainly it's just finding your pitch early on in an at-bat. This year, especially early on, I've been taking care of that first-pitch fastball. I take advantage of it when the pitcher makes a mistake.

Why do you enjoy playing with this group of guys?

Everyone's really close. We all hang out together, and one of my favorite things about our team is that we're not just together during baseball — we like to participate in everything. We like to go out to basketball games. If you asked around the school, (people would say) the baseball team does a good job of participating in everything with the new house system we have.

Why and when did you start playing baseball?

It's funny. My mom's from Peru and my dad's from Spain — they don't play baseball (in those countries) at all. My grandpa (Jack Johnson), who is my mom's stepdad, he's from Texas. When I was younger, my parents knew nothing about baseball. They were big soccer people, so I played soccer when I was younger, but my grandpa was like, "I want him to play baseball." My parents were like, "If you want him to play baseball, you can take him." Ever since I was 5, I've been playing. He would take me to the cages every week and take me to all my practices.

After all these years, why have you stuck with this sport?

You're always chasing to get a little bit better. Baseball is hard. Hitting is hard. It's really hard to get satisfied because you're constantly trying to get a little bit better. If you're getting four hits or three hits out of 10 (at-bats), you're doing pretty good.

Is there a quote or piece of advice you've always carried with you?

"Keep going." Being consistent is mainly what it is. If you just keep stacking days, you'll end up in a good spot.

If you could meet any professional athlete, who would it be and why?

Lionel Messi. I grew up dreaming about soccer. That was my first dream, and he's the best player of all time.

What's a fun fact about you not many people know?

I'd like to say I cook a really good steak. My buddies will sometimes come over to our house and everyone will bring their own steak. Me and one of my other friends, (senior) Micah (Page), who's our catcher, we'll cook up some good steaks.

If you had to choose one word to describe yourself, what would you say?

Gritty. I'm not the biggest, the tallest or the fastest, but I like to contribute in lots of different ways.