Jaguars Run Wild In 8-5 District 8A-11 Win Over Bengals

Sliding in safely was the theme of the night for the Jaguars as they racked up 10 stolen bases in their 8-5 win over the Bengals.

The Coral Glades Jaguars may have given the Piper track team a run for its money on Thursday night. The Jaguars were in a running mood, stealing 10 bases on their way to a District 8A-11 8-5 win over the Bengals. The win caps a week in which the Jaguars defeated Douglas on Tuesday and Piper last night, moving Coral Glades into sole possession of second place in the district.

The game plan of using the stolen base in this game was evident right from the start. In the first inning, lead-off hitter Nick Diaz and first baseman Devin Crocker stole bases. Thomas Santarcangelo added two stolen bases of his own, bringing the Jaguars total to four in the opening frame. The stolen bases led to two runs.

Even with his team running around the bases, Jaguars coach Jorge Miranda seemed shocked that his team totaled 10 SBs in the contest.

“No, are you serious?,” asked Miranda, when told of his team’s base-path accomplishment. “We wanted to come out and be aggressive. That’s been our plan all year long, hit-and-runs, stolen bases. With Piper tonight, we knew they had been playing well the first couple of weeks. This week, we started to find our groove, and I’m very happy with our performance. The kids have worked hard at practice, and it’s good to see that hard work pay off.”

While stealing second and third became routine on this night for Coral Glades, it was the not-so-routine steal of home by Crocker that displayed just how hungry the Jaguars were to finish off their strong week with a win. Crocker broke from third with two outs and scored without a play as the pitch came in high and outside, leaving no room for the catcher to come back and make a tag. That run gave the Jaguars a 4-2 lead at the time.

Coral Glades’ Alex Kline delivers a pitch Thursday night.

Once his teammates gave him the fourth run, Jaguars ace Alex Kline settled in on the mound. After allowing two runs in the first two innings, Kline pitched a perfect third and fourth. By the time he took the hill in the fifth, the Jaguars had extended their lead to 7-2, scoring three runs in the fourth. The runs came courtesy of singles by Bryan Keeler and Zach Thompson and a couple of Bengals errors.

“After the win against Douglas on Tuesday, we were pumped up, but we knew that these guys (Piper) were second in the district. We knew they were a scrappy team,” Kline said. “Tonight, I just went out there and hit my spots, and our team hit the ball well, so it was a great win.”

In the fifth, Piper tried to mount a rally, with the first two batters scoring in the inning. Kline was relieved by Kevin Druckman, who worked out of the jam, leaving the score at 7-4. Druckman went on to shut down the Bengals over his final two innings of work, earning the save in the process.

Piper had been playing well coming into this week. After a week, however, that saw the team lose to West Broward on Tuesday and the Jaguars on Thursday night, head coach Chris Costanzo saw plenty of areas where his team needs to improve moving forward in their season.

“Poor defense. Mental mistakes killed us this week,” Costanzo said. “I’m happy with the way the offense came out and swung the bat tonight against one of the best pitcher’s in the county, but we have to eliminate the mental mistakes defensively. With our district, we can’t afford to have that many mental mistakes and expect to come out with a win.”

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