Nova Rolling Out Its Next Wave Of Playmakers

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It can be a tough test to wait your turn to play. At Nova sometimes really talented and ready players still have to wait and play behind a senior or other veteran. Eventually their time will come, and they will get their chance to be one of the main guys on the roster. It is part of this tradition that helps to maintain the standard of Titans baseball.

This season there are about five guys who played a bit last year and who now have their opportunities to be the main playmakers in 2015. This group includes Vince Coletti, Austin Davis, Jose Oliva, Javier Lopez and Edwin Pichardo, all returning veterans now charged with the responsibility to set and maintain the program standards on this team. All of these guys have been in the program for a long time, and now their time has come.

They take over a team that is ready to make amends for a tough end to last season. The Titans went 18-4 and earned the second seed in the district playoffs, but were upset by South Broward in the district semifinals.

“Last year was a disappointment,” longtime Manager Pat McQuaid said. “We had a pretty good year but it was the first time we lost in the first round of the playoffs since 1992, so that was disappointing. We’ll see what this group does, if they can step up and hold the tradition that a lot of other kids have.”

Nearly every starter from last season has now graduated, leaving the Titans with a very inexperienced group coming back this year. Coach McQuaid knows that he has had teams like this in the past, and they have come together and surprised many people. This is a group that is also capable of gelling quickly and playing Titans baseball right away. But at the same time there are many unknowns with such a new group, and it remains to be seen how well this team can come together throughout the season.

“It’s going to be an interesting year; we’re not as talented as we’ve been in the past,” McQuaid said. “We will put nine kids out there that can play a little bit but we’re not going to hit for power. We’re going to have to play defense and we’re going to have to run and bunt. We don’t have a dominant number two, so we’ll have to mix and match and play defense. We’re going to have to learn as we go and mature by the end of the year.”

The key to success rests on the shoulders of senior starter Vince Coletti. The right-hander had a strong junior campaign as the club’s number three arm, and now he has stepped into the lead role for his final high school season. McQuaid has always trusted his top starter to go the distance each time out, to manage the pitch count and give the squad seven solid frames every time out. It is a role any pitcher would love a chance for, and Coletti is ready to live up to the responsibility bestowed upon him.

“I have been waiting for this for a year now, and you can’t get nervous about it,” Coletti said. “You just have to step up and perform. I’ve been playing baseball since I was three so I know how to deal with pressure. You just have to take every pitch one at a time and execute how you can, hit your spots and trust your defense. Hopefully my guys can give me some run support, and I think we’re going to be pretty good this year.”

Coletti tops out around 88 miles per hour, and McQuaid feels as though he has a chance to be among the top in the county. Coletti is already signed to play for Palm Beach State next season, and he brings a good attitude and a great work ethic. McQuaid is confident that it will all play itself out and that the team will be able to rely on Coletti to give them a chance to compete, which will take the pressure off the other kids to simply develop.

Nova has some depth behind its ace, although most of the guys are unproven at the varsity level. Hendry Silva is one of few experienced arms returning, while the club also has the strength of two lefties in James Spatafora and Shane Rowe. The coaches are leaning on these guys to mature quickly, as they know they will need to rely on their pitching as their young offense evolves.

“If you have a couple kids that can pitch, you have a chance,” McQuaid said. “These new bats have made it a completely different ballgame. The ball is not traveling as far and outfielders are playing at 250 feet now, so they are catching balls that used to fall for hits. It is harder for kids to score from second now and sometimes a three-run lead can seem insurmountable. You start giving outs away to get back into it. It’s a different game now, and you have to move guys over to score runs.”

The Titans are coming off one of their lowest home run totals as a team, and McQuaid feels the team will hit for even less power this season. The kids are going to have to run and bunt and manufacture offense.

Fortunately the team has a lot of speed and plenty of guys who can get on base. Davis is the club’s leading returning hitter, and he can hit anywhere in the top four of the lineup. Oliva moves from center to left field and slides into the three-hole in the order, while Lopez takes over the starting spot at third base and hits second. Returning veteran Marcos Villanueva will split time between shortstop and first base, and Rowe will play right field when he is not pitching. Spatafora will be the team’s regular center fielder, while newcomer Scott Shaw is also in the mix at shortstop.

A key guy to the team’s infield is Edwin Pichardo, who will see time primarily at second base. Pichardo is very versatile and can play every infield position, and the team will take advantage of that to move him around based upon who is on the mound and how that affects the defensive alignments.

The team format could be a bit different than what the club traditionally does. Key to their success will be the player’s ability to trust their coaches and follow the team approach. Coletti jokes that he and Coach McQuaid have butt heads in the past, but that it has only made their relationship stronger.

“I have a lot of respect for him. He is a good guy and he just wants the best for you,” Coletti said. “He’s right most of the time so you just have to do what he says. You just have to listen. We’re a pretty young team and we only have one or two starters who got experience last year, but we all know what we have to do this year and we’re going to try to do our best.”

The game of baseball is nothing new to anyone on this roster, as nearly every guy plays travel baseball year round. Now it is just about stepping up into a different experience and adjusting to the team concept of high school baseball.

“Now they are a part of a team where they need to be accountable, where a lot in travel baseball that is not the end-all,” McQuaid said. “That is the biggest thing is to get the kids to practice right and to play right and to be a part of the team. Winning is important and sometimes travel baseball is sometimes just about your personal accomplishments. So we have to change that mindset a little bit.”

A big part of the team bonding has always come when the program takes a road trip together during the season. Typically the club goes out of state, but this year they were unable to line up some teams to accommodate that plan. McQuaid had wanted to take them to South Carolina so they could also visit the Clemson campus, but they were unable to match up with any teams from that area. Instead the team will head to Gainesville in mid-March, playing road games at Gainesville and Santa Fe, and then going to watch the University of Florida play Arkansas.

“It’s a good experience for the kids,” McQuaid said. “They spend about four days with each other, so they’ve got to get along and bond a little bit.”

The Titans traditionally come on strong after their spring trip. The coaches hope that even this new young group can continue that trend and have the club playing its best baseball at the end when it matters the most.

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