Winter baseball front and center on Coral Springs diamonds
The off-seasons are very brief when it comes to youth baseball in Coral Springs.
No sooner had the Little League World Series ended in late August than local volunteers were already hard at work preparing for the Coral Springs Winter Baseball League.
And while the calendar just shifted from summer to fall, it was hardly noticed by those who wear the gloves and swing the bats.
Jason McShane was busy displaying his hitting, running and pitching abilities as part of the Tigers team in the league’s 12-Under Division.
McShane’s squad went up against the Angels in a match-up that wound up a 5-5 tie, but for those on the diamond at North Community Park it was all about having a good time.
“The league is really fun because it is competitive and this team (Angels) was really good and tough to beat,” said McShane, a seventh-grader at Forest Glen Middle School. “It was a hard game. You always have a challenge in front of you.”
The 13-year-old, who provided key plays in the game, like to be in the thick of the action.
“I like moving and being able to run,” McShane said. “I just like making plays because it shows what I am made of.”
Tigers teammate Diego Cifuentes, 12, turned in a solid performance behind the plate.
“I like the challenge of playing against other challenging teams,” said the Coral Springs Middle School seventh-grader. “I also like playing catcher because I like having control of the game and having the ball in my hand. It is not important to win, although it is fun to win. You mainly just want to have fun.”
The teams in the Coral Springs Winter Baseball League are split among five divisions according to age and ability.
There is a 6-Under Rookie Division (ages 4-6); 8-Under Coach Pitch (ages 7-8); 9-Under Kid Pitch (ages 9-10); 12-Under Little League (ages 11-12) and a 15-Under Juniors (ages 13-15).
They play a 20-game season that runs from late August through early November, including double-elimination playoffs.
Angels shortstop Erick Torres, 10, said his favorite part of baseball is batting. That is certainly understandable since the fifthgrader at Eagle Ridge Elementary School went 3-for-3 at the plate.
“Playing shortstop is an important role,” Torres said. “When you make mistakes, you can always fix them. When we win, we always go and get ice cream.”
Chris Zarazinski, 11, loves the fact that he can hit the ball and run bases. He also performed well on the mound.
“It was very important for me to pitch well at the end to help my team,” said Zarazinski, a sixth-grade student at Coral Springs Charter School. “I was pitching against a very good team with very good ballplayers. Honestly, my main objective is to have fun, but it is nice to win at the same time.”
Angels coach Ian Nagle has been involved in the program for 12 years.
“To be able to teach skills to the kids that will make them better baseball players down the road is very rewarding,” Nagle said. “You are building character, teamwork and sportsmanship and those are all important things. I take pride in helping start the foundation with some of these kids out here.”
He said he coached many of the players that were part of the North Springs Senior League team that finished second in that division of the Little League World Series this summer.
“That was a big thrill for me,” Nagle said. “Some of these kids might have that opportunity to play in the World Series someday.”
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