Coral Glades Wins A Nail Biter Over Miami Brito

When the players step on the diamond and the lights are on and the national anthem is playing, all records and names get put aside. Players fill themselves with hype and anticipation for their “prime time” game against each other. That hype is what helped Coral Glades’ pitchers combine to hold off a late rally from Brito Miami.

“Coach told us we were facing a good team. He hyped it up saying this is a really good team chasing another state championship this year. I just have the mentality that I can overcome anyone,” said Coral Glades pitcher TJ Williams. “I figured that if I left anything high, If I made a mistake they would hack it. So I was trying to live low, hit my spots, and take it pitch by pitch.”

That’s exactly what the Jaguars junior pitcher brought to the hill, on what was a cold Thursday evening. Able to hold Brito to only three hits in four innings, striking out five in what was not an easy task against the 2A-15 district favorites.

Taking the mound for Brito was hard throwing right handed Mauricio Amaral, who allowed three runs despite only giving up two hits.

Coral Glades first got to Amaral in the third when Gerald Collazo led off the inning with a walk. Executing a perfect hit and run, Nick Diaz went the other way with the ball to advance the base runner into scoring position. With Jose Martinez at the plate, Collazo was able to take advantage of balls in the dirt, and come around to score the first run of the game.

When players work hard in practice, it usually pays off in the game. Hitting the ball to the right side is something high school managers stress to their players. Coral Glades, who executed in almost all of the opportunities that was given to them, also ran the bases with no fear Thursday. For the better part of the game when a runner reached first, the third base coach sent him to second, and did it early in the count.

Brito’s catcher Lazaro Gonzalez was busy behind the plate gunning down three of the seven attempted stolen bases.

“We were very aggressive tonight. When you’re aggressive, you’re going to get thrown out a little bit,” said Jaguars Manager Jorge Miranda. “We got ourselves into some situations in which we got runners to second base early, we were grinding out a lot of at bats. We try to be patient, mix in hit-and-run and situational-hitting here and there, and it helps out with a couple wild pitches. That comes with putting a little more pressure on the pitcher at hitting his spots.”

Following the script, Coral Glades added another run after a leadoff walk in the fourth to Andrew Sheinbaum, whom came around to give the Jaguars a 2-0 lead.

As any leadoff batter knows, their job is to find a way on base, any way possible. In the fifth Brito’s leadoff guy Juan Carlos Millan did just that, and took one for the team. After a pair of walks, Amaral drove in Millan for their first run. Amaral was 3-for-4 with a double on the day.

Coral Glades added one in the sixth to open up a slim lead of 3-1.

Brito was facing their final three outs down by two and hoping to find a way to extend the game in the seventh when Lazaro Gonzalez walked to start the frame. Brito’s came to life again with some spirited cheering, same as they were throughout the game. With Amaral doing everything he could to help his team win, he delivered a deep double to left to put runners in scoring position with one out.

But sophomore pitcher Preston Vegotsky shut the door on any rally Brito had brewing. Vegotsky came on to relieve Williams in the fifth.

“It was a good game, those guys did very well and have a really good team over there,” said Brito Miami’s Assistant Coach David Fanshawe. “We made some mistakes, a few wild pitches and some walks, and I think that cost us the game.”

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