Coral Springs Comes Back To Ground Pope

Sometimes, you have to weather the storm before you see the sunshine. Over the past two days, the Colts found that out in both a literal and figurative sense. After being delayed by rain on Monday, the Colts were forced to battle through another dominant force in their opposing starter on Tuesday. The Colts weathered the storm and picked up an impressive 7-3 win over Pope John Paul II on a gorgeous afternoon at Colts Field in Coral Springs.

The figurative embodiment of the aforementioned disturbance came in the form of Pope starter Alex Bialakis. The senior, who will play his college ball at Citadel, featured a high-80’s fastball and nasty low-60’s breaking stuff. All over the radar gun, Bialakis kept Coral Springs hitters off balance for most of the afternoon. He struck out eight on the day, including the six he tallied when he struck out the side in each of the first two innings. Of the 91 pitches he threw on the afternoon, over 55% of them went for strikes.

The Colts may not have been able to hit Bialakis’ stuff, but they were able to make him throw a lot of pitches and wear him down. After putting the first two hitters of the inning on via walks in the sixth, Manager Peter Graffeo pulled his starter.

From there, it would be all Coral Springs. A third walk to Smith loaded the bases and a fourth brought in the Colts’ first run of the day. After Nick LeConte made it 3-2 with a well placed ball back up the middle for a fielder’s choice RBI, Jeremy Szozda came through with the biggest hit of the afternoon, a two-RBI single on a rope down the left field line.

“I got ahead in the count early,” Szozda said. “I was sitting fastball, I got my pitch, and I came through.”

Phillip Quinn got the start for the Colts. Even though he was leaving the ball up a little early, thanks to a deep repertoire which included a mid-70’s cut fastball and high-60’s breaking stuff, Quinn only had to face three over the minimum number of hitters over his first five innings.

The Eagles put Bialakis in line for the win in the top of the sixth. A Josh Parker single, a Stephen Gorgreve walk, and an error by the Colts paved the way for catcher Cale Brader to knock two in with his two-RBI single. Second baseman Cal Bocchino also added an RBI.

For Brader, the runs were just the tip of his contribution iceberg. He also provided some great defense behind the plate on a surprise bunt attempt leading off the fifth inning. On the play, Brader showed great reaction speed, fielding the dribbler down the third base line, wheeling, and making a perfect throw to first, paving the way for another 1-2-3 inning for the Eagles. When his pitcher began to get wild in the sixth, Brader made some excellent blocks behind the plate, despite his smaller frame, disallowing runners from moving up.

Both sides had their fair share of standuts. Before Szozda got his chance to come up big, the Colts turned to Henrique DeOliveria to stop the bleeding. He did so beautifully, getting both of his hitters to pop out after he came on in relief in the sixth.

“DeOliveria getting us out of that inning was huge,” Colts Manager Frank Bumbales said. “They had scored three runs then he came in and just shut them down.”

Szozda echoes the importance over the Band-Aid his teammate provided in that inning.

“He came in, held it down, and set us up for a big win,” Szozda said.

Bumbales lauded his team’s fight and their resilience in the face of adversity, but he was not one bit surprised that they were able to overcome the odds.

“They kept their focus they never gave up, Bumbales said. “That’s the way they play. They hang in there, they wait for something to change, and they jump on it. They back down from no one. They know if they play their game harder than the other team plays theirs, we have a chance to win. They got the job done.”

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