Jaguars’ Bats Roar In Big Win Over Piper Bengals

Coral Glades got a complete performance all around in its 11-0 District 8A-11 victory against Piper on Thursday.

Both the Jaguar defense and offense performed well and consistently the entire game complementing each other.

On the defensive side, the Jaguars starting pitcher TJ Williams shut down the Piper offense for the first three innings and only allowed one run in the game which was scored at the top of the fourth inning.

The infield played flawlessly with no errors and turning a textbook 6-4-3 double play in the top of the third.

“Everyday we work hard with our defense,” said Manager Jorge Miranda. “For us, throwing strikes, catching the ball and throwing the ball is essential.”

Miranda’s philosophy is that by his team performing on all cylinders defensively and shutting down their opponents as much as possible, they can give the offense a chance to score the runs needed to win. That strategy seemed to work well for the Jaguars, as their defense, particularly up the middle kept the Bengals at bay the entire game and gave the offense the time they needed to open the floodgates in the fifth and sixth innings that put the game out of reach for the Bengals.

The Jaguars did the damage not only with their bats, getting key hits to drive in runs, but also with aggressive base running and taking advantage of every opportunity awarded to them by the Bengals.

“I’m very disappointed in how we played [defensively], to throw away a great effort by our pitcher, he gave up only four hits through five innings,” said Bengals’ Manager Donovan Collins. “We had a lot of miscues, a lot of errors, and this has been the pattern.”

Although the Jaguars got the key hits, the defensive miscues by the Bengal defense allowed the Coral Glades team to score six runs on four hits through five innings.

The game blew wide open for the Jaguars in the bottom of the fifth inning beginning with back-to-back hits by Nick Diaz and Christian Dominguez. After two outs Dominguez scored on a base hit by Williams. With runners on first and second, the Jaguars put on a successful double-steal, advancing the runners to second and third. One run score from third for the Jaguars on a passed ball. Thomas Santarcangelo advanced to third on the same play and scored on a wild pitch. Oliver Levine then got a base hit to center field that was misplayed, allowing another run to score for Coral Glades. The inning ended on a 6-3.

The sixth inning brought another five runs for the Jaguars. The leadoff batter got on board on an error and stole second to get into scoring position, advancing to third on a passed ball. Brian Godoy drew a walk and then stole second. Diaz was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Godoy and Zach Thompson scored on a base hit to center field.

Jacob Melton hit a fly to shallow center that fell in for a hit to load the bases. Santarcangelo was hit by a pitch allowing Diaz to score. Tylet Steiner drew a walk, adding another run while the bases remained loaded. The game ended when Bryson Connell hit a grounder to first and the throw was made to home plate, arriving late and letting the final run in for the Jaguars.

“Those fifth and sixth innings, we fell apart. We didn’t make the plays that needed to be made,” said Collins. “We made mental errors. We have a young team, and we’re going to get better.”

Even though Miranda celebrated the win, he wasn’t completely satisfied with the Jaguars’ performance.

“We started really slow,” he said. “The first couple of innings, we didn’t make adjustments. In our district, we can’t afford to do that. You have to bring your ‘A’ game every time.”

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