District 4A-13 Preview: A Battle Royale

Close games and tense situations were the norm in this district last year, and there’s no reason why these teams can’t generate that excitement again.

Here is a preview of what to expect from the district competitors this season.

CARDINAL GIBBONS CHIEFS
2012 Record: 8-13
Head Coach: Frank Pisani
Key Returners: Tyler Norris (3B/P), Connor Durkin (SS), David Pedraza (CF), Grant Trower (P), John Leachman (OF/P), Drew Hanke (C), Mark Nowatnick (P), Chris Williams (P), Dalton Jugovic (2B), Nathan Pawelczyk (1B/P), Ryan Bowman (C/OF), Craig Olson (OF/P)
Newcomers to Watch: Karl Hirsch (P), Justin Lara (OF), Austin Marrow (OF/C), Brady Norris (3B), Nick Ferngren (C)
Team Strengths: Pitching depth, experience,
Team Weaknesses: Power
Something people not around your program need to know about your team….

“We have one of the best concession stands in the county.”

The Cardinal Gibbons Chiefs are long removed from the days of dominating their district. From 2002-2007, Gibbons won district titles every season, but has been unable to hoist the district trophy since. The team that was once a powerhouse under former manager George Petik has been average lately, and that is something manager Frank Pisani hopes to change in the near future.

“Gibbons hasn’t won a district title in five years, and that’s something that we have to change,” said Pisani. “We have a good group of young players, and I like our chances this season.”

Achieving the goal of district champions will be a tough order for the Chiefs, who play in one of the toughest districts in the state. The process of developing into a title contender starts in the fall for most programs, and Pisani, who has been around baseball in Broward for more than a decade, decided this year to change the structure of his fall program.

“We split our squad up into two teams,” Pisani explained. “On Monday, we inter-squad. On Wednesdays, we do a split-squad, where we send both teams out to play different opponents. This way, everyone is getting at-bats and work in the field. Instead of just getting one or two at-bats and then sitting the bench, like in a normal structure, these guys are getting full games under their belts.”

As documented by BHSB throughout our preview series, fall structure can be much different from team to team. For Gibbons, the players have no complaints with the new system.

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CHAMINADE-MADONNA LIONS
2012 Record: 14-13
Head Coach: Mike Moss
Key Returners: Jordan Spicer (So. P), Mike Ramunno (P), Rashad Flerismond (Sr. P), Mitch Moormann (Sr. SS), Danny Vitello (Jr. OF), Julian Pino (Sr. C/1B)
Newcomers to Watch: Adam Toombs (P), Mike Nader (P)
Team Strengths: Hitting, speed

Losing nine seniors, including your two best arms, plus a few other transfers out of the program might cause some coaches to shake their head as to what they’re going to do now — especially considering seven of those graduates are now playing college baseball.

Not Mike Moss.

The Chaminade-Madonna manager, a veteran and longtime successful coach in Broward County, is looking at the situation as having a lump of clay in his hands to mold into his next masterpiece.

“Talent-wise, it’s tough to replace that, but what I like is that the group we’ve got now is a group of kids who are all on the same page and want to work hard,” Moss said. “They’re conscientious about the way they play the game. So I like the way we look with the new group. It’s like a fresh group. Obviously, last year was my first year back here, so now I can really implement my program a little bit more. We’ve got a good group of kids to do that with. They’re young, and we have some pretty good talent.”

The Lions, who went 14-13 last year, will be counting on a staff of mostly inexperienced pitchers to help them through not only a tough district slate but a challenging non-district schedule as well.

The staff will include Jordan Spicer, a sophomore whom Moss said “has a lot of ability.” He threw 4.2 innings last year. Adam Toombs joins the team as a transfer from West Broward. Other pitchers include Mike Ramunno, who threw three innings last year; Mike Nader, who played on JV; and Rashad Flerismond, who tossed two innings last season.

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CORAL SPRINGS CHARTER PANTHERS
2012 Record: 20-8
Head Coach: Mike Higgins/Dan Rovetto
Key Returners: Steve Kerr, Matt Fierman, Brandon Laboy, Jorge Solano, Joe McCrystal
Newcomers to Watch: Luis Guillorme, Wyatt Hawes, Matt Arlick, Tommy Romero, Scott Stolberg
Team Strengths: Middle infield, team speed
Team Weaknesses: Lack of experience on the mound
Something people not around your program need to know about your team….

“Our kids are hungry. We share many athletes with other sports, such as football. The kids are fresh, excited to work as many haven’t been on the field since last year. We have a former big leaguers on our coaching staff, including Tom Magrann (Cleveland Indians)”

The Coral Springs Charter baseball team has had to deal with change the past couple of seasons, with former manager Jerry Albert moving from the school to Belen Jesuit in Miami, and Athletic Director Mike Higgins taking the reigns for the Panthers.

That transition went smoothly for the Panthers, as they won a district title last season in what many believe is the toughest district in the county. CS Charter then went on to advance to the regional semifinals, where its season ended with a loss to Monsignor Pace.

This season, the Panthers again will be dealing with a transition, although the team is well prepared. Higgins, the team’s manager, announced he will be retiring from coaching after this season to focus on being the athletic director, and he already is grooming his replacement, former Nova standout and Chaminade-Madonna assistant coach Dan Rovetto.

“I want to be a good athletic director, but I love baseball,” said Higgins. “I am going to give everything I have to this team this year, and I believe we have a team that can win again. Dan is a great baseball coach, and I will work together with him to make this transition smooth.”

As for that team Higgins is evaluating, it has been playing well and made a few changes since last year came to a close.

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NORTH BROWARD PREP EAGLES
2012 Record: 11-16
Head Coach: Brian Campbell
Key Returners: Chad Fleischman, AJ Fidalic, Mack Nathanson, Hernando Sierra, Drew Rangel, Kevin Thomas
Newcomers to Watch: Edgar Badaraco, Anthony Maciello
Team Strengths: Defense
Our season will be a success if….

“…we can play team-oriented baseball.”

North Broward Prep was a work in progress last year after losing nine seniors to graduation from a team that went to the state semifinal — the farthest the Eagles had ever been — and going through its first season in arguably Broward’s toughest district.

This year, the Eagles have to deal with losing five seniors and will be counting on the progression of last year’s younger players over the summer to help the program regain some of the success the team enjoyed the previous year.

A big loss on the mound is Casey Kopec, who went 4-3 with 65 strikeouts and a 2.33 ERA in 57 innings. Another key loss is the bat of Kevin Fagan, who hit .495 with 38 runs, 25 RBI and 11 home runs.

“Obviously, it hurts to lose those guys, but that happens every year,” North Broward manager Brian Campbell said. “You lose guys, so you just have to keep moving forward. I feel pretty good about our team. I feel good about guys who were young last year who played quite a bit and their development over the summer. All those kids who were considered young players last year now a year older and have a year of varsity experience under their belt.”

Some of the players Campbell is excited about this year include ace lefty Fidalic; returning catcher Mack Nathanson; first baseman/pitcher Drew Rangel; Chad Fleischman Kevin Thomas and Hernando Sierra, who is playing football this fall.
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PINE CREST PANTHERS
2012 Record: 17-11
Head Coach: Glen Pierson
Key Returners: Zack Kone (So. SS/P), Adam Saks (So. 2B/SS/P), Chandler Cissel (Jr. 1B/P), Matt Rothenberg (Jr. 3B/P), Chris Koppenhaver (Jr. P/OF), Alex Perex (Jr. C/P), Steven Goldberg (Sr. P/OF), Ben Fiedler (So. OF/C/P)
Newcomers to Watch: Dan Fine (Sr. P), Eric Collazo (Sr. OF), Griffin Conine (So. OF)
Team Strengths: Experience, entire infield returns from successful 2012 season, many returning experienced pitchers
Something people not around your program need to know about your team?

We are still young. The majority of this team will be competing together for three years. Also, we have three college commits with the hope of several more to come during this upcoming year.

Pine Crest gave a new meaning to the term youth power last year as a team with only four seniors reached the regional quarterfinals.

The team achieved its success by learning from its mistakes and peaking at the right time as it got hot the second half of the year. The Panthers took their lumps early, losing three consecutive District 4A-13 games to Chaminade-Madonna, Cardinal Gibbons and University before coming back to avenge those loses later. The Panthers opened the year 4-6 but finished the season winning 13 of its final 18 games for a final record of 17-11. The Panthers ended up third in the district with a 7-5 record.

Pine Crest coach Glen Pierson credits the attitude he and his coaching staff had going into last year knowing how young the players were.

“We really took the approach that you’ve got to let them make mistakes without feeling bad about it and learning from those mistakes and not putting pressure on these guys, let them relax,” Pierson said. “And early on, what they noticed was how calm we were through situations where we weren’t necessarily playing clean. And as a coaching staff, we talked about it as opposed to being emotional about it, and they fed off of that, and all of a sudden they stopped worrying about making mistakes and ended up playing extremely sound. We felt that what they needed was to be young, play the game, enjoy the game and learn from their mistakes rather than declaring the obvious that they messed up. That’s not the way we wanted to be coaching, and it worked for us and it worked for them.”

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SOMERSET ACADEMY PANTHERS
2012 Record: 16-9
Head Coach: Onel Garcia
Key Returners: Brandon Acevedo, Etienne Latour, Chris Medina, Mike Van Degna, Luis Mercado, Yoni Rodriguez, Casey Garcia, John Ham, Trevor Takacs, Israel Santana
Newcomers to Watch: Marlon Romero, Ben Hoffmann
Team Strengths: Good starting pitching, deep bullpen
Team Weaknesses: Defense is average, hitting is not consistent
Something people not around your program need to know about your team….

“We just want to play the right way and keep improving and let the chips fall where they may. It’s nice that we have 10 seniors and eight juniors on varsity now, plus three sophomore starters. Our freshman class also seems very strong. But our district is really tough with very good teams and coaches.”

No one in the baseball community mentioned Somerset Academy just a few years ago.

The charter school, surrounded by some of the top baseball teams in the county, has quietly developed into one of the top small-school programs in the county and can compete with the big boys just as well as it could the little guys.

Somerset won 16 games last year and earned victories in half of its District 4A-13 games, not bad when you consider the teams the Panthers were up against.

Coming into the this year, Somerset is expecting to pick up where it left off with a senior-heavy squad that gained plenty of experience last year. The team lost just one senior to graduation, Kida De La Cruz. There are 10 seniors this year.

“I think as of last season, people are starting to know about us a little bit more because we faced tough teams that we beat,” pitcher/second baseman Etienne Latour said. “I think people started to get to know us a little bit more. Oh, Somerset, we have to be careful with them.”

Latour said some of the success can be attributed to the strong team chemistry that has developed.

“This is a brotherhood,” he said. “Everybody here loves each other. We’re all hanging out with each other. Whenever we go out, we go out with everybody here. I just think its one of the most important things because if you have a team and they don’t like each other, they start playing for themselves. Nobody here is selfish. Everybody plays for the team.”

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UNIVERSITY SCHOOL SUNS
2012 Record: 18-7
Head Coach: Eddie Tisdale
Key Returners: Mike White (RHP), Sebastian Diaz (SS), Shane Wise (RHP), Andrew Denis (OF/LHP), Dan Epstein (OF)
Newcomers to Watch: Evan Klugerman (C), Julian Cabrera (S), Perry Littrell
Team Strengths: Pitching
Team Weaknesses: Depth
Something people not around your program need to know about your team….

“Team chemistry is great. We practice and play as a family.”

Practices are pretty busy these days for University School, where the Suns enter this year with the unenviable task of replacing some of the top players from last year who helped them to a second-place finish in District 4A-13.

Just who did the Suns lose exactly? A .326 hitter in Charlie Gomez, a solid catcher in JJ Cormier, a .305 hitter in Diego Perez, who drove in 19 runs and scored another 19.

“We lost some pretty key players and it’s no secret we’re going to have some big holes to fill,” Manager Eddie Tisdale said. “When you lose a player like Diego Perez, or JJ Cormier behind the plate, those are quality high school baseball players who go out on a daily basis and get the job done. They’re tough to replace, but we’re going to have to find guys to step up and do the job for us.”

The Suns picked up one freshman in place of the six seniors they lost, leaving the team thin in some spots.

The Suns can take some comfort in the fact that they return some quality arms. The ace of the staff will be Michael White. White sparked the Suns last year, going 9-2 with 78 strikeouts and a 0.43 in 64.2 innings. Shane Wise and Andrew Denis were other key members of the pitching staff. Wise went 3-3 with 33 strikeouts and a 1.72 ERA in 36.2 innings while Denis went 4-0 with a 0.59 ERA in 23.2 innings.

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