Pines Charter Wants More After Regional Appearance Last Season

Pembroke Pines Charter had a bunch of leaders last year when it advanced out of District 6A-15 and returned to the regional playoffs. Unfortunately, the Jaguars’ season ended with a loss to Belen Jesuit in the regional quarterfinals, and now the team must face life without some of its mainstays over the past few seasons.

Gone are the likes of Kevin Daly, the Broward batting champion from a year ago, Carlos Lopez Jr., Jorge Marrero, David Monge-Rodriguez and Nick Eyrich. The loss of so many key players will leave Pines Charter with a new look in 2013.

“It’s not going to be easy replacing all of those guys,” said manager Carlos Iglesias. “Those were strong leaders. We are in the process of finding players that can fill those leadership roles, but that takes time. Hopefully somebody will emerge from that standpoint.”

One player who has taken the role this fall is catcher Eduardo Espinosa. The senior has learned from those who came before him, and he also plays the one position most responsible for dictating the flow of a game.

“We lost a lot of seniors,” said Espinosa. “It’s all new to us. With the seniors gone, I’m going to make it a point to be a leader. I need to be an extension of the coaches. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I’ve been a catcher my whole life, so I’ve always been in a position to lead. Now, I just have to do it at this level.”

One of the main players who will join Espinosa in the leadership position is starting pitcher Alejandron Kan. The junior still may be considered young by high school standards, but he has been the go-to guy on the mound for the past two seasons. Kan emerged as the ace last year when Lopez Jr. injured his arm early on, and all Kan did was post a 3.34 ERA, while striking out 30 batters in 31.2 innings. Being comfortable as the team’s top pitcher is something that Kan has grown into.

“Now that I’m a junior and I’ve been through the battles, it will help me be a leader, but I have great teammates as well,” Kan said. “My teammates help me through tough situations on the mound, and I rely on them to have my back. We’re going to have a good pitching staff this year, so I won’t have to do everything. We have guys that can shut people down, and that will make things much easier.”

With the majority of the offense from last year gone, Iglesias knows that his pitching staff, which now includes Danny Melgarejo and Patrick Mitchell behind Kan in the starting rotation, will have to lead from the front.

“We’ll be as good this year as our pitching staff caries us,” Iglesias said. “Our pitching coach Andy Moser has been working hard with the pitchers all fall, and we like what we are seeing. Everything starts with pitching at this level, and I feel we will be strong on the mound.”

Behind Kan, Melgarejo and Mitchell there is not much depth to the staff, and that is where the offense will have to step in and carry the load.

Jake Jacobs returns as the team’s top hitter, hoping to improve on a .382 batting average he produced as a sophomore in 2012. Jacobs scored 26 runs last year, but his primary role will have him driving runs in this season.

“Jake is going to have to carry our offense. As he goes, we will go sort of thing,” said Iglesias. “Jake works hard, plays with all-out effort and has developed nicely over the past year. We expect big things from him, and he should be a middle-of-the-order type of guy.”

Jacobs played the outfield last year for the Jaguars, but this season, he will be shifting to the infield at second base. He likely will be joined in the infield by Alex Metallides at third base and Cody Fuchs at first.

In the outfield, Micah Baxter-Miller — up from junior varsity — Jesse Gonzalez and returner Kevin Ellenbogen will be counted on heavily.

If everything comes together as planned for the Jags, life still may not be easy within their district. Three-time state champion Archbishop McCarthy is back, as is Fort Lauderdale, the team that took Pines Charter out of the district playoffs in 2010. Hollywood Hills and Stranahan round out the district and figure to be much-improved over last season.

“We have to do the little things to succeed no matter who the opponent may be,” said Iglesias. “I don’t worry about the other teams in our district. They are all very well coached, and the games will be competitive. We just have to worry about ourselves, be prepared, execute all of our plays, pitchers throw strikes. If you do all of those little things and you do them the right way, things will happen positive and we’ll be successful.”

Sometimes, doing the little things is much easier said than done. The 2013 version of Jaguars will be judged ultimately on how quickly they learn that lesson from Iglesias and the rest of the coaching staff.

The 2012 team had a stellar .334 batting average and a team ERA of 3.17. Duplicating either of those numbers will be difficult with some inexperience, but that does not mean Jaguars players believe exceeding last year’s win total is out of the question.

“We may not hit 20 home runs this year, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be successful,” said Jacobs. “We’re working on hitting the ball gap to gap. Defensively, I expect we are going to be great, and on the mound, we are in good shape. If we execute offensively, this could end up being a special year.”

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