Coral Springs Advances To District 10-6A Title Game After 3-0 Win Over Taravella

The Coral Springs Colts are the defending District 10-6A champs, but all they have had to hear about all season was the nationally ranked Douglas Eagles. At the conclusion of a wild day in district play, the Colts will no longer have to share the spotlight with their crosstown rivals.

On a day that saw nationally ranked Douglas lose to a 5-14 Deerfield team, Coral Springs took note of the warning provided by the Bucks and ensured they would not suffer a similar fate at the hands of Taravella. The Colts blanked the Trojans 3-0 on their way to a second consecutive district title game appearance.

Aaron Maller was the star for the Colts on the mound, going six inning and giving up no earned runs. Maller helped his own cause when he delivered two RBIs, one each in the fourth and sixth innings. The RBI in the fourth put the Colts up 1-0, and the sixth inning single gave the junior some breathing room on the mound.

For the past several years, Coral Springs has been a team built on defense, and Tuesday night the Colts defense was almost flawless. Outside of a fifth inning error, the Colts made all of the plays behind Maller, and now they will be defending their district title on Thursday night versus Deerfield.

“What we did last year set the tone for what we set out to do this year,” said Colts Head Coach Frank Bumbales. “We have our goals, and this was one step to reach our goal. The next goal is the next game, we’ll take one at a time, and not skip any. We need to make sure that we’re focused, and ready to play the game as hard as we can, like we always do, and get the job done.”

This game was similar to many Coral Springs have played in recent years, with Maller on the mound and the defense being relied on heavily to carry the burden of the difference between a win and a loss.

“I’ve just got to keep making them put the ball in play, and let my defense work,” said Maller, when asked about the approach in a tight game. “I don’t get a lot of strike outs, so I need to rely on my defense behind me, and tonight they again did their job.”

Maller went six strong innings, but after giving up a double to Vincenzo Libio to lead-off the Trojans seventh, and a single to Andrew Wallach, Bumbales summoned his closer, Dalton Wolchik. The junior promptly struck out Greg Feinberg swinging, and Billy Kleinert looking. Wolchik earned the save by getting Joseph Depalo to ground to second to end the game, and the season for Taravella.

“I give Coral Springs credit, they’re going to put the ball in play, play strong defense, and other than a couple of mistakes we played a pretty solid game,” said Trojans Head Coach Jason Stein. “We played as well as we could, we hit some balls hard, and they made plays. We just came up on the short end this evening.”

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