Highlands Christian Still In A Rebuilding Phase

Highlands Christian once was one of the top small school teams in the county. The winners of seven district titles reached the state tournament in 2008 and 2010.

The current Knights are far from those standout teams as the program remains in a rebuilding stage is probably two or three players away from being competitive, manager Bruce Charlebois said. The Knights probably will be somewhat fast with questionable pitching depth and varsity experience for the bottom half of the order, he said.

“We’re a young team, but I think with the additions we’re going to have in the spring, we’re going to be a pretty good team,” sophomore pitcher/infielder James McGrath said. “We’re shooting for districts and maybe get to regional.”

The team, which is strong up the middle but light on the corners, has a solid foundation, Charlebois said, with six players who will lead the team this year.

Chief among those players is short stop Kirvin Moesquit, a five-tool player who has committed to the University of Miami as a junior. Moesquit, who is playing soccer this fall instead of fall ball, brings “international flavor” to the team, Charlebois said, as he’s from Curacao. The switch-hitter is projected to be drafted in the top 10 rounds.

“He is the glue that holds the team together,” Charlebois said.

Tripp Geyer, a transfer from Chaminade-Madonna, will move from his usual spot in the outfield to play catcher, a spot in which he’s unproven.

“His strengths are going to be the body and the arms,” Charlebois said.

Another transfer will benefit the team this year. Saul Valez moved over from Zion Lutheran and will play at first base.

“He’s a big body who is going to hit in a power hole for us,” Charlebois said.

Second base will be a toss-up between returner James McGrath and freshman Jo Joe Ortiz, and third base will be manned by senior returner Chris Celeste.

Deion Rosalia, another play from Curacao, is projected to be the team’s ace. Beyond him in the rotation are Donnie Vlahakis, a strike-thrower who is in the upper 70s to low 80s.

Moequit, Valez and McGrath also will pitch.

Charlebois said he went lighter on the schedule this year in order to build confidence in his team.

“We’ll go middle strong and finish with a little stronger schedule to get ready for the postseason,” Charlebois said.

Team chemistry is one of the team’s strengths this season. Some players who Charlebois called a “cancer” are gone.

“They’re going to gel together nicely,” he said.

Charlebois said the team’s leadership is “a little suspect, but if our seniors step up and lead and guide, I think we can be a pretty good club. It’s questionable that those guys have the ability to take on that.”

Charlebois said he tries to treat district games as he would any other game on the schedule.

“I don’t get caught up in the hype of the district games,” he said. “Calvary always is a well-coached team. I don’t think they will be quite as deep but competitive. I think Westminster will be competitive but not as strong as they have been years and year ago. But they’re getting better. Coral Springs Christian obviously is pretty loaded. We are confident we can stay in a baseball games with them.”

McGrath said the Knights have to “just give it our all this year. Last year, when we started, we expected to win the first game, so we didn’t throw our best pitchers on the mound. And that took us right out of it because they hit really well off of our pitches.”

The team also needs to improve its image on the field and Celeste will try to help the team in that respect.

“I’ll be trying to tell people to have fun and don’t worry about body language, just play,” Celeste said.

Despite the dropoff in the program, Charlebois said he believes the team still has a bullseye on its back.

“I still think people want to beat coach Bruce,” he said.

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