Glades Rallies For Four Runs in Ninth To Beat Springs And Tie For District Lead

Coral Glades scored four runs in the top of the ninth and held on to defeat host Coral Springs 8-4 on Thursday in a key District 8A-11 game.

It was one of the biggest wins in team history as the Jaguars (8-5) moved into a tie for first with the Colts (10-3) as each has a 6-1 district record and beaten the other once. Springs won the first matchup 1-0.

“To be number one, you’ve got to beat teams like Coral Springs and take of business in the rest of the district,” Coral Glades coach Jorge Miranda said. “In our district, any team on any given night can beat anyone. It’s anytime, anywhere, any place. These are the wins we want the boys to experience. Playoff atmosphere, extra innings. We grinded this one out. A district win on the road is extremely important.”

Tied at four going into the top of the ninth, the Jaguars took advantage of a Colts error and five hits to plate the decisive runs. Jacob Melton and Frank Rodriguez led off with back-to-back singles. An error allowed Melton to score, and Alex Kline drove in Rodriguez. Kline scored after the ball bounced off his helmet in a rundown between third and home, and Zack Thompson came home on Nick Diaz’s RBI single.

Melton, who came in to pitch in the eighth to relieve starter Kline, had a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to shut down Springs.

“This is a great boost in our morale,” Melton said. “We know we can compete with anyone in our district and compete for a district title. In practice this week, we stepped it up and did extra work. We prepared ourselves to face a great team, and it paid off.”

Kline, who struck out eight and allowed eight hits in his seven innings, said “this win will keep us on a roll and keep us pumped and keep us on a winning streak.”

Lewis Brinson put the Colts up 1-0 in the first after he doubled and came in as part of a double steal.

Glades tied it at one in the third as Kline singled and scored on Nick Ferreiro’s RBI single up the middle.

Brinson tripled and scored on Dylan Ebel’s sacrifice fly to put Springs back on top in the bottom of the inning. The Colts extended the lead an inning later when Austin Nelson drove in Justin Mixon.

The Jaguars took the lead in the top of the fifth. After Rodriguez singled and Tyler Steiner reached on an error, Ben Brower’s infield hit loaded the bases. Ferreiro’s sacrifice fly brought in Rodriguez, and Diaz singled in Steiner and Brower, putting Glades up 4-3.

Springs, which got a good starting pitching performance from Brett Schneider, tied it in the bottom of the sixth when Kline walked in Nelson with the bases loaded. Kline beared down and struck out Jordan Gleicher and Brinson to get the Jaguars out of the jam.

“I had to go all out and give it my all,” he said. “I had no where to put those guys.”

“He’s the man,” Miranda said of Kline. “I asked him how he felt [after the sixth], and he didn’t want to come out. He’s a bulldog. He was a huge part of a getting our objective done of winning this game.”

Of Melton, the Jaguars’ number two pitcher, Miranda said “he’s a tenacious, quiet player. He’s selfless. He’ll do anything to get us the win, and today he was selfless to come in relief and get the win.”

Colts coach Frank Bumbales said his team “didn’t cash in on our chances and we gave them opportunities with errors. You can’t take anything away from them. They got the job done. They cashed in on their chances. We knew it was going to be a good ballgame, and it was. But we’ve got to rebound, and someone’s gotta step up.”

Although a loss is never really a good thing, Bumbales said he’ll take this one and hope the team uses it to its advantage.

“Now we can come back with a little more vengeance,” he said.

Springs will need to regroup quickly as another big district game looms Monday against Douglas.

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