Coral Glades Begins Anew Under Manager Mike Goulette

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Mike Goulette was leaning towards retiring from coaching baseball. After spending the past 18 years in the game and serving as the Taravella JV Coach for the previous eight years, he had taken the past year off after his family welcomed a newborn baby into their lives. After years of dedicated coaching from Little League, high school wood-bat leagues and even semi-professional baseball, Goulette was comfortable to hang up his cleats and walk away from the game.

Yet when an opportunity arose for Goulette to come on as the new Manager at Coral Glades, it was something he could not resist.

“This job opened up and I wanted the opportunity to run my own program, so that’s what I am doing,” Goulette explained. “They’re a good bunch of kids and I’m excited to get the opportunity to coach them. We’ve got a good core, especially with the sophomores. The returning juniors are very good, but we don’t have a lot of seniors. We’re changing everything. We’re changing our dugout from the third base dugout to the first base dugout. Our motto is ‘seven strong’, which means to play seven strong innings and help each other out, and have more togetherness.”

Just two years removed from a regional playoff appearance, the Jaguars have an entirely new look about them. With a new skipper and a core of eight seniors now departed from last year’s squad, the team is eager to wipe the slate clean and start over fresh in 2015. Coach Goulette learned a lot of things in his time at Taravella working with Jason Stein and Alan Clark, and now he gets the chance to utilize that knowledge on his own ball club.

“I have a very young team and we just want to be competitive and try to stay within the district race and try to get into that top three,” Goulette said. “Then hopefully we will make some noise once we get into the district playoffs. Some of these guys were here when this team went to regionals two years ago, so they’ve seen it. I don’t know how many of them got playing time in it. We’ve got a lot of young kids from last year who were thrown into varsity, so we have some experience there.”

As with any new situation such as this, an adjustment has to be made. Coaches have to learn about their players and players have to adjust to the new system. Since Goulette was hired so late into the process, he wasted no time in getting right to work. The team is on the field five days a week and everyone is working to get on the same page.

“We are still trying to adjust and get to know him, but Coach Mike is a good guy,” veteran TJ Densmore said. “We’re going to do good here. It’s kind of the same and it wasn’t that hard to get what he is trying to teach. We go with the flow.”

The new Jaguars Manager does not mind that some veterans are taking the fall season to play for showcase club teams, as this gives him a chance to work and learn about the younger guys. Much like previous skipper Jorge Miranda, Goulette is all about defense, solid pitching and timely hitting.

“Miranda and I aren’t much different. I watch the infielders and they do a really good job of scooping up the ball and making plays, so he really made my job coming in here pretty easy,” Goulette admitted. “I don’t really change much. They seem pretty comfortable and pretty much our philosophies are very similar, so it makes it easy for them. Everything here is about competition. I brought a JV kid to the game last night and he got a double, so if he plays well he could even be up here.”

Another adjustment the players had to make was having fall tryouts. The middle infield, outfield and catcher positions are the primary areas of competition. While the coaches are not rushing the young guys to come along until they are ready, they do realize a spot is there for them should they prove they can take it. The seniors and juniors began the fall as the varsity team, with the freshmen and sophomores all slated for the JV squad. The younger guys are challenged to work for a spot on the varsity roster, while the upperclassmen are challenged to work hard and hold the young guys at bay.

The Jaguars have a good core of juniors and also have a young pitching staff to develop, both of which are exciting aspects of this new challenge for Goulette and his staff. This new staff includes JV coaches Jim Shipley, John Kelly and Mike Donatucci, and Pablo Bermudez, Albert Ayala and Jeff Silverman on the varsity squad. Only Coach Pablo is left over from the previous staff, which has helped provide a familiar face for the veterans to trust and work with.

More so than ever is the responsibility of those veterans to take charge, trust the coaches and encourage the younger guys to follow suit. Mainstays such as Alex Lara, Preston Vegotsky and TJ Densmore are among the guys who have taken it upon themselves to assume a leadership role. Even as these guys are trying to understand Coach Goulette’s style of coaching, they are also doing their part to communicate with the coaches and then carry it over to the other kids.

“That’s one thing I like doing is to help people out,” said Lara, who is a third year starter at third base. “But also, I’m a humble kid and I don’t like telling somebody what to do. It feels good for once not being the one the team picks on and makes do stuff a lot. I help my team out 100% and I don’t criticize at all, but just tell them what they did wrong and help them in practice. I go to the JV practices and help the JV kids, help them get better and get ready for the varsity level.”

Coach Goulette has also made it a point not to overlook his younger squad. Being a guy with a JV background himself, he has made sure the JV squad does not get pushed to the side. He attends every JV game and has also rented a separate practice field so the JV guys can practice at the same time as the varsity. The JV guys need more playing experience, so they have a full fall schedule. Meanwhile the varsity guys just need more practice time, which has been their main focus this fall.

“We’re looking pretty good in the infield and I don’t think a lot of runs are going to be scored there on us this year,” said Densmore. “Up the middle, we look pretty good with some solid flips, and at third base we have Alex Lara, who is one of the hardest throwing guys on the team. The chemistry is pretty tight. I know other organizations do different stuff but we keep the same thing going, so the chemistry is that we have a tight bond. All the guys take each other to practices and games, and take each other out to eat. The stronger we are out there, the better we will play together on the field.”

The strong chemistry between the players is a massive advantage for the coaches who are still learning about each individual. Although there is some familiarity from kids they know from the area, the coaches are still working to get to know each one of them, as well as getting to know the booster club. The program is also starting a feeder team with local eighth-graders who could potentially come to Coral Glades next year. All of these things are coming along nicely, but still need time to develop. Yet the great bond and cohesion among the current roster of players has helped to accelerate the entire process.

“Our expectations are pretty high for a younger team and a new coaching staff,” said Lara. “We’re all still iffy on how things are going to be, but I feel like this group of kids we have now is going to come out strong. Our focus right now is to look for that number one seed. Coach wants us to shoot for at least the number three, but we’re looking for that number one. The key is to keep the grades up and work hard in practice.”

A strong work ethic is something this squad has always shown. While the young new guys are still learning what that means at the varsity level, guys such as Michael Gray, Mitch Rodriguez and Zach Bottone have also helped to distinguish what hard work and dedication looks like. The club will also lean on veteran hurler TJ Williams come the springtime, as the right-hander figures to be the team’s ace on the pitching staff.

There is a lot of work to do, but thankfully there is time still to get it done. Ever since his son graduated in 2009 Coach Goulette dreamed of running his own high school program. While he admits he loved his time at Taravella and never envisioned he would be coaching anywhere else, he jumped at this chance once the job was available.

“I’m having fun with it. I enjoy the kids and talking with the parents,” Goulette said. “I’ve always prided myself on being a player’s coach and letting my players play the game. I’ve raised teenagers so I can kind of read my teenagers. I’m very happy with my defense and offensively we’re still learning Pablo’s hitting style. My Hitting Coach, go talk to him about hitting. My Pitching Coach, go talk to him about pitching. I just evaluate and put guys in. I’m an in-game manager and that’s my thing. That’s our motto is ‘Seven Strong’. You have to play seven strong innings. If they’re going to beat us they are going to beat us when we play seven strong.”

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