Taravella’s Bats Come Up Big In Semifinal Win

8A-11 is full of talent from the Coral Springs area, and much of the teams in this district field players who’ve played against each other their entire lives. In this years district tournament, stakes are high and expectations are ever higher. All four teams believe they have a chance to make it to regionals.

For game one of the 8A-11 tournament, the Coral Glades Jaguars took on the Taravella Trojans. These teams faced off twice this year, and split victories. Taravella’s dominant pitching and consistent offense was too much for the Jaguars on this day, as the Trojans cruised to a 10-0 five-inning win.

For Chris Virardi, throwing strikes comes natural and that’s just what he did this afternoon against Coral Glades on Tuesday. Virardi came out in the first working a quick two outs before giving up a double to Johnny Mendez. Virardi escaped the inning, and would only allow two more base-runners for the remainder of the game.

Taravella’s offense went right to work in their half of the first. A lead-off single by senior Joseph Libio, followed by a base hit by catcher Michael Fitschen, brought up Manny Pantaleon with one out. Pantaleon reached on an infield hit knocking in the first Trojan run. Gavin Robinson followed with a sharp liner down the third baseline, which hit the glove of diving third-baseman Alex Lara. Fitschen scored on the play. On the day, Robinson had two doubles and four RBIs. Lino Bravo then hit a sacrifice fly, making the score 3-0 after one.

“He gives us some pop and speed in the middle of the order,” said Taravella Manager Alan Clark of Robinson. “At the beginning of the year he was off to a great start, and he’s starting to swing the bat well with the rest of the guys.”

Virardi settled down after the first, retiring 12 of the next 13 batters he faced. He rolled eight ground balls on the day and was backed by a flawless defense. The only other Jaguar hit came from Michael Grey in the second. Virardi only struck out three, but worked ahead in counts, kept his pitch count low, and let his defense work behind him. The Trojan offense would take care of the rest.

“Chris has been a strike-thrower all year,” said Clark. “It’s nothing new, we’re used to having him come out and perform like he did. He was able to locate all three of his pitches really well tonight and he kept batters off balance.”

In the third, Robinson singled with one out, followed by a Lino Bravo base hit to left. Coral Glades starter Christian Dominguez was pulled in the third after 2.1 innings of work. TJ Williams came on to pitch, but also had difficulty retiring Taravella hitters. He gave up a two-RBI double to Nik Sanders. A walk by Zach Costanzo and walk to Joseph Libio brought up the catcher Fitschen with the bases loaded and two outs. Fitschen walked, grabbing the RBI and putting Taravella up 6-0 through three.

The Trojans tacked on their final three runs in the fifth. A lead-off single by senior Brian Krebs, a single by Libio, and a double by Fitschen ran the score to 9-0. Senior Julio Bautista then drove a single to left to plate the game-ending run.

The loss marks the end of a tough season for the Glades, who made a late season push by beating Douglas and Taravella coming into the district tournament. The loss of some players as well as absences from multiple coaches were just some of the adversity this team was able to overcome, boasting a 5-2 district record. Taravella will take on Douglas Thursday night at 7:00pm for the district title at Coral Springs.

“A lot of positives today,” said Taravella Manager Alan Clark. “We stayed aggressive when we had the lead, and in the last couple weeks we would’ve sat back. We were hitting the ball all day, all throughout the lineup.”

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