Coral Park Trusting Its Experience On The Mound

The Coral Park Rams had a five-year playoff drought, but last season, first year Manager Butch Carnicero led his team to the district 8A-15 semifinal game against powerhouse Columbus. Heading into the 2015 season, Carnicero hopes the addition of two new assistant coaches, Jose Trujillo and Eddie Escribano, can help the team build upon a 12-12 regular season and a 1-0 district victory over Southwest.

Carnicero notes that both coaches’ playing careers will be an invaluable benefit to the Rams, as both played for the University of Miami and gained minor league experience. For Escribano, the journey truly reaches full circle. He was the winning pitcher on the mound in Coral Park’s 1978 title game.

“They both played at a high level and have experience in the minor leagues,” Carnicero said. “They are going to be able to impart knowledge about the game to the kids. That is what we try to do as a coaching staff.”

Seniors Carlos Cabanas and George Curbelo notice how the pitching staff has improved from last year already because of Escribano’s guidance headed into the new season. Curbelo is the veteran catcher who is entering his fourth year calling signals with Cabanas, and he notes the progression he has seen over the last year from his pitchers.

“When you don’t have a pitching coach, pitchers’ mechanics, arm slots could be off,” Curbelo said. “Starters have progressed from last year. Pitchers are throwing faster and with more control. Last year we didn’t have a coach always present. He is always on top of us making sure we are training and doing our best.”

If Coral Park would like to make the next step to the district final game, they will need strong starting pitcher performances late in the season. Carnicero wants his pitchers to challenge hitters, compete, and trust their stuff to get hitters out. That is something the coaching staff is emphasizing this season. It helps to have an experienced catcher like Curbelo who can evaluate his pitchers’ strengths in order to improve upon those key elements. Curbelo sees Cabanas’ progression and analyzes his positive intangibles.

“Slider and changeup and throwing strikes is where he is improved the most,” Curbelo said. “When he is on, he’s on. He’s one of those pitchers that if he’s striking out batters, he just gets pumped and throws even better. If they hit off of him, he doesn’t really care. Changes it, clears his mind and starts throwing again.”

Carnicero says that the team will start with two starters and make changes as needed as the season progresses. Nothing is set in stone. From an offensive perspective, Carnicero says the team will have to execute from the first pitch and use a mix of plays to produce runs.

“Pitching is important, but we still need to score more runs than them,” Carnicero said. “We will have to play some small ball to produce some runs, but I am excited to see the group play as a whole.”

Senior centerfielder Bryan Grafton, who is entering his third year playing varsity, will be one of the team’s leaders. The team’s chemistry is something he hopes will continue to grow to transfer into more victories.

“We have close relationships outside of the field,” Grafton mentioned. “Everyone needs to get your job done every time you’re out there. Still, working as a team needs to improve, especially communication.”

After the last round of tryouts, Carnicero and the team all went out to dinner at the Big Cheese to have the starting roster already begin the team bonding process with some pizza.

But looking forward to the 2015 season, Carnicero believes the season’s success is contingent on whether the Rams make it farther in the playoffs.

“My measure for a good season will be if we advance to the district finals,” Carnicero said.

Grafton and the rest of the Coral Park team would like to experience more of that elusive yet exciting playoff success. The Rams would like to end more teams’ seasons during this season’s playoffs.

“Coach says there’s nothing better than ending someone’s season,” Grafton said.

Leave a comment using your facebook account!