Three-Run Seventh Gives Coral Springs A Sweep Of Rival Douglas

The Coral Springs Colts were down to their final three outs against Douglas on Monday afternoon, and hanging in the balance were the Colts’ hopes of gaining the top seed for the District 8A-11 playoffs. Coming into the game, the Colts were tied with Coral Glades for the district lead.

For much of the game, it looked as though the Eagles were going to hand Coral Springs its second straight district loss, but the Colts showed the poise it takes to be a champion when they rallied from a one-run deficit to score three runs in the seventh, and then hold on for a 9-7 win.

Aaron Maller started the game on the mound for the Colts but did not have his best stuff, surrendering five runs in less than two innings of work. Despite the tough outing, Maller came up huge for Coral Springs in the seventh with his bat. With the team down to its final two outs and the bases loaded, Maller delivered a two-run single that gave the Colts a lead they would never relinquish.

“You can’t dig yourself down into a hole, because then you’re just hurting your whole team,” said Maller, when asked how he kept himself up after the rough pitching performance. “I had to make sure I stayed focused. I’ve been hitting the ball well recently, and I knew with the situation, he was going to come with a fastball. I was actually just thinking ‘make contact,’ and it worked out.”

The inning was highlighted not only by Maller’s single but also base hits off the bats of Tre Dingus, Alan Sharkey and Justin Mixon. The Colts may have scored more in the inning had a fly ball to left not resulted in a 7-2 double play.

Dingus and Jordan Gleicher were the offensive stars for the Colts, each piling up three hits on the afternoon. Gleicher had a tough night at the plate against Coral Glades last Thursday, and he was happy to be back contributing to the offense Monday.

“Today, I just put some good swings on the ball,” said Gleicher, who also had a home run in the game. “I went into the cage today before the game and tried to clear my mind, and try and forget about the other night. I know I’m a better hitter than that, and today I saw the ball really well, and everything just clicked for me.”

Much like in the first game these two teams played back in February, Douglas had several opportunities to put the game out of reach early. In the first inning, the Eagles scored three runs on four hits. Lead-off hitter Colton Bottomley, Michael Greenberg, Luis Silverio and starting pitcher Jonathan Lipinski provided the singles, but Douglas stranded two runners in scoring position to end the inning.

In the second, after Coral Springs had taken the lead 4-3, Douglas struck again thanks to singles by Bottomley and KJ Mayo, along with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Greenberg.

“We just didn’t finish today,” said Eagles head coach Todd Fitz-Gerald. “It’s a tough loss. We worked so hard, the kids were ready to go. Hopefully, this game will make us better. It’s hard to beat a team three times in a season, and hopefully we’ll get another crack at them down the road.”

With the win, the Colts momentarily took over first place in the district, but when Coral Glades defeated Deerfield later in the evening, the teams were again tied at the top. The Jaguars have a game Thursday with Douglas, and for once, Coral Springs will be rooting for its rival.

“We’re definitely going to be Douglas cheerleaders on Thursday,” said head coach Frank Bumbales. “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to go because we play at Deerfield Thursday, but we’ll be pulling for the Eagles to come through in that game for sure.”

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