Chaminade-Madonna Ready To Make A Move In District Chase

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Last season’s focus was on improving, developing and growing. A year later the Chaminade-Madonna coaches have raised the bar and the expectation is to have some success and win. The Lions are getting a little more pressure on them as far as what is expected of the players and no longer will they be satisfied with being in the middle of the road. The team is expected to play like champions and have that mentality.

With so many returning players on the squad, they understand that they have already made payment last year for their future success. They went through the growing pains of playing a lot of younger guys, and now is the time to show their growth and improvement.

“I expect this group to be successful,” Chaminade manager Mike Moss said. “I think we’ve got the makings to be a solid club throughout the year. We have pitching depth and quality to compete. It’s just going to be a matter of being able to get some clutch hits, and defense last year was our Achilles heel. I think we’re going to be much more solid this year on the defensive side.”

Over all the years coaching Moss has come to believe that chemistry is what it is all about in high school sports. If coaches are able to get some guys together who have some ability and who really do care about one another and buy in to what they are coaching and teaching, they are going to go after what they are chasing. So the key during the fall is to get everybody on the same page and going in the same direction.

“Every day in practice we say, ‘Family, on three.’ We really take that to heart,” senior Chris Vickers said. “We have really come together and back each other up. Some teams will turn on each other, but we help each other out. In school is really where the chemistry is formed, in the hallways and in the classroom. I got surgery and my teammates were there backing me up, asking if I needed anything, and they would come to visit me. We have to go out as a team and we’ll be fine for the spring.”

Coach Moss has seen many teams grow together over all his coaching years, a career that has him just a few wins away from eclipsing 400 career coaching victories. The thing that keeps him going is when he sees a kid start to make progress and accomplish something. Seeing the process work and the light go on for a guy is a great thing for him.

An example of this comes in senior shortstop Mike Drag, who has moved into the leadoff role in the lineup for the first time.

“It gives me a lot more confidence that the coaches trust me to hit leadoff,” said Drag. “I’ve never been so confident in my life playing baseball, and every time I step on the field no matter if I am batting first or second I feel like I can do anything. I’ve never really been a leadoff in my whole career, and it is hard taking that first pitch and seeing the guy in a way that our other guys can see him too. It’s definitely a change.”

Change is constant in the Lions roster, as most of the pitchers are also position players. The club uses many different groups depending on who is on the mound from a deep staff that includes Michael Blanco, Ryan McManigal, Michael Callari and newcomers Dylan Arnett and Josh Leatherman. Drag returns to a fluid infield group that includes returning veterans Kevin Rodriguez, Austin Gomez and Chris Schoeller, as well as newcomers Matt Johnson, Roberto Petit, Cole Burton and Emmitt Kildea. Vickers helps anchor an outfield unit that also includes Rolando Petit, Nick Diroberto, Eric Bonkowski and Ruben Ramirez.

“It’s a mix of youth and veterans,” Moss said. “You always need that infusion of the young guys that bring that excitement and enthusiasm as they are trying to push their way through. But you also always want to have some stability and established guys. We have six seniors, several juniors and then a bunch of sophomores who got their experience last year as freshmen. It’s a good balance.”

They are working hard on legs and conditioning in the fall. The club recently began using Fast Twitch Performance Training two days a week and is already seeing results after a few weeks. The Lions expect it to be a big contributor to helping them play better defense.

“We’re trying to work on our fundamentals and our feet, and to control our hands. Those are our big emphasis,” Drag said. “We have been working out a lot on that, but we are also making huge improvements with our hitting. We are waiting back on the pitch a lot and getting good timing on it.”

Gone is last year’s learning curve, as most of these guys know varsity pitching, varsity pace and what Coach Moss expects of them. Drag admits that last year’s seniors kind of drifted off from the group, but now the team all hangs out together and the chemistry is also where the club wants it to be. The squad is showing that they have the ability to grow together during the tough times that may come up during the year.

“Every team, no matter how good you are, is going to suffer some kind of a low during the season,” said Moss. “You are going to have that tough spot where you don’t play well and lose a couple of games, and it is how you handle that and move forward that matters. That tells the story about what is going to happen.”

It has been seven years since Chaminade last won the district title, and four years since the team posted a winning record. While the wins and losses do not always reflect the tough teams the program always plays, there is still the sentiment that this could be the year the team earns some new hardware for the trophy case.

“Coach Moss is a great coach and he really gets us together and he motivates us,” Vickers said. “That dogpile for a district championship is a dream I have had for four years, and as a senior there is nothing more I want to do than to get that third out in the district championship. My sophomore year we were so close and we lost to North Broward Prep, and we haven’t had a district championship at the school in a long time. So it would be nice to bring that home.”

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