Coral Reef A Band of Hard-Working Brothers

With ten starters returning to the Coral Reef Barracudas this season, without a doubt experience is a key strength. But when you look beyond the stats, peer beyond the numbers and look at how this team works, what you’ll find is that intangible aspect many teams strive for so mightily.

This is a team that works together, goes to battle for each other and clicks. Each player is the peanut butter to the other players’ jelly, if you will. That’s the word from new Manager Tony Meilan.

“The bond among these guys is unbelievable,” Meilan said. “All 20 of those guys in there would do anything for one another, and that is a huge reason why we believe this team will be successful this year.”

The key to the close bond is the guidance of senior players such as outfielders Sam Sanchez and Jose Rojas.

“I, along with the other seniors, try to lead by example on and off the field, from the beginning of practice to taking extra swings after,” Sanchez said. “Our relationship with the other players makes it easier to communicate situations we’ve experienced and will possibly experience in the future.”

Sanchez said the team may have more or less the same players as last year, but it’s not the same team as last year.

“Thanks to our coaches for making a positive atmosphere in the club house,” Sanchez said. “It has brought this team closer than ever. To win those close ball games, it may take relying on someone else to do their job. We are confident that our guys are unselfish and willing to sacrifice themselves for the team.”

Rojas said his experience at the varsity level places him in a leadership role and he plans to show “confidence and aggressiveness” on the field to set an example to the younger players to play hard.

“The team’s chemistry is like no other team that I’ve been apart of,” Rojas said. “That’s something we need to have since we’ve had three different coaches in three years. I can call every single guy in our clubhouse a brother of mine. It’s great because we can tell each other anything, like what one of us need to work more on without it causing a problem. Our bond will definitely help us win because we know our strengths and weaknesses, so we use it to our advantage.”

Having a team of players who work well together is one less thing Meilan has to worry about as he tries to establish stability at Coral Reef. He inherits a program that’s had its ups and downs in recent years. The team went 11-11 in 2012 but won just two games the next year and six last year.

“We want to build off of and improve from the season we had last year and what the program has accomplished in the last 14 years,” Meilan said. “We’re going to work hard to create the mindset that everyday, we’re going to be a little bit better than we were yesterday. We are also going to work hard to find these kids colleges to go to and to compete with everyone in the district.”

In addition to Sanchez and Rojas, who also will pitch, the team returns senior catcher Justin Johnson, junior catcher/first baseman Nate Rosa, senior infielder/pitcher Anthony Sola, junior outfielder Pedro Sanchez, senior pitcher Jake Sirota, and junior pitchers Fernando Marquez, John Stethopolus and Miguel Mora.
Returning reserves are senior infielder Alex Hartnett and junior infielder Mike Lopez.

“We’re lucky to have a lot of starters returning with a little more experience,” Meilan said. “We work hard in practice every day and the improvement that these guys have shown is incredible. Short-term, we want to compete with everyone we play against and in the district and get ourselves into that district championship game and into regionals, and long-term, we’re chasing what every high school in the country is chasing, the state title.”

Meilan identified junior infielder Markel Arnaiz, sophomore outfielder Dylan Gonzalez and junior infielder Mike Sanchez as new players who can make an impact.

“All of them played incredibly well on JV last year, and they have translated so well into the varsity,” Meilan said. “This is a team sport, and we need every guy on that roster to compete and produce.”

The Barracudas are replacing some pitchers lost to graduation, but Meilan said he’s expecting a lot of this year’s staff and has expressed confidence in Marquez and Stethopolus, “who can be a 1-2 punch that can compete with anyone,” he said. “These guys have stepped up in huge ways.”

Rojas said he believes pitching is what the team can do best. “With Fernando Marquez as our ace and Anthony Sola closing the game, we have a good shot at districts if the bats come out to play, which I’m confident they will.”

Meilan said he thinks Sanchez, Rojas and Sola “can give us that push we need to turn some heads this year.”
Some of the heads the Barracudas will be trying to turn this year are in their tough district, 8A-16, which includes some of the perennial powerhouses in the county and is loaded top to bottom. Last year, South Dade went 23-6 and won the Class 8A state title, Killian went 24-5 and Southridge finished 18-5. Varela went 10-10 but beat each district opponent once. Coral Reef went 0-12 in the district.

“It’s no secret that we play in the toughest district in the county and maybe even in the state,” Meilan said. “With South Dade returning as state champs, along with Southridge and Killian, who can compete with anybody you put on the field with them, we know that we need to be playing some pretty good baseball to beat those guys. We think we have what it takes to compete with anybody, and like we said, our goal is to give ourselves the best opportunity to get into that district title game and into regionals.”

Sanchez said to be successful against such stiff competition, the team needs to rely on the good chemistry it has and exploit that.

“We as a team need to play our best baseball,” he said. “Against the tough teams in our district, there’s no room for mistakes. We need to be focused and ready to make adjustments.”

When the Barracudas aren’t giving their all on the field, they’re pushing themselves in the classroom at a top school.

“Coral Reef is a magnet school and it is one of the best schools in the country,” Meilan said. “We had President Obama come speak at the school last year, which speaks volumes about the work these kids put in the classroom and how hard the administration and the teachers have worked to bring the school to this
point. Grades aren’t a worry here because we know that we have excellent students, and we expect them to work twice as hard in the classroom than they do on the field. Some of these guys will go on to become doctors and lawyers and contribute to society in incredible ways.”

Leave a comment using your facebook account!