Douglas Hands Coral Glades First Loss Of The Season

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The Douglas Eagles have long been the hunted in 8A-11. For years, the Coral Glades Jaguars have been trying to get over the hump and dethrone the Eagles as the top team in the district. On Thursday afternoon, Coral Glades again had their opportunity. Coming in with a perfect 6-0 record, the Jaguars had a measuring stick game against one of the county’s top teams.

Douglas, however, was not yet prepared to come down off its perch. After a sloppy start, the Eagles rebounded and came away with a 5-1 win, moving themselves into sole possession of first place in the district.

“We did not come out prepared to play today,” said Eagles Manager Todd Fitz-Gerald. “Their heads were already in the Keys. It took us a while to get focused on the game today, but once we did, we were able to come away with the win.”

The Keys trip that Fitz-Gerald was speaking of starts on Friday, when Douglas makes their annual trip down to the hostile environment of Key West to take on one of South Florida’s top teams in the Conchs.

Before that trip, Douglas had to contend with a Jaguars team that has turned some heads early in the 2015 season. After wins against Cypress Bay and Coral Springs, Glades put their perfect record on the line against the Eagles, and while the Jaguars kept the game close, they learned that they would have to be more precise if they are going to give Douglas a run for the district title.

“I think we grew up a little bit today,” said first year Jaguars Manager Mike Goulette. “I think we proved that we can hang with them for seven innings, but we just can’t make the mistakes we made today and expect to beat a team of that caliber.”

Coral Glades looked like they were posied for the upset early when Alex Lara reached on a hit-by-pitch to start the game. An errant pick-off throw landed Lara on third base, with nobody out. But he quickly was erased when he was picked off of third.

That proved to be costly, as Juan Rodriguez and TJ Densmore each followed with walks. Mike Grey hit a sacrifice fly, driving in Rodriguez, and the Jaguars had an early 1-0 lead.

Douglas did not get on the board until its half of the second. Sophomore Justin McDaniel, making his first varsity start, kept the Eagles off-balance early, but was victimized by some defensive mistakes.

John McKenna reached on a third strike that got away, and when Jordan Hill and Brandon Aurebach hit consecutive singles, the score was tied at one.

In the third, Douglas plated two more runs. Yorvis Torrealba started the inning with a single, moved to second on a balk, and scored on an RBI base hit off the bat of Colton Welker.

“We knew they were throwing a guy that was going to try and slow our bats down,” said Welker, who finished the game 2-for-4, with an RBI and two runs scored. “It took us a little while to adjust, and once we did, we started putting up some runs.”

Welker scored the second run of the inning when McKenna was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

In the fifth, the Eagles put the game away with two insurance runs. Welker again got things started with a single. Dominic DiCaprio, who had two hits of his own on the day, also singled to center. Devin Conn followed with a base hit. loading the bases with nobody out. Blake Bottomley hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Welker, and McKenna singled in designated runner Kyle Shay with the game’s final run.

For Douglas, its best performance of the day may have come from Juaquin Maese. When starter Alex Ginn was pulled after two innings, Maese took control of the game by throwing four innings of one-hit ball. The senior is one of a plethora of arms the Eagles can trot out to the mound on any given day.

“I knew coming into the game early that I had to step up for my team,” said Maese. “With so many pitchers, its hard to get opportunities, but hopefully with what I did today I can get more time out on the mound.”

Fitz-Gerald applauded the effort of his senior reliever.

“He (Maese) did a fantastic job today,” said Fitz-Gerald. “He had good command of his fastball, and his curve ball was sharp. He really held us in the game until we could get rolling offensively. He pitched ahead in the count all day, only gave up one hit in four innings. He just did a great job and I’m proud of him.”

With the Eagles now sitting at the top of the district, their attention will turn to Key West.

“It will be a knock-down, drag out weekend. It will be a great atmosphere. Hopefully we are up for the challenge,” said Fitz-Gerald.

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