Sitting in his office smiling while penciling in the lineup for his team’s next game, Barbara Goleman High School’s head baseball coach Jose Lopez is enjoying the moment, after his squad won eight consecutive games before losing to Lemont of Illinois.
But that wasn’t the case when the season started in February.
The Gators struggled during the first seven games of the season, a far cry from the district-winning team from last year.
But now at 10-5-1, Lopez said his team is on pace of winning a third consecutive district championship.
“This season hasn’t been easy because we had to replace good bats and good defense,” Lopez said. “We started out slow and it has been a learning experience. But now we are in a good position during the stretch of the season.”
Before the season commenced, Lopez said replacing graduating seniors Kevin Perez (Jacksonville University), Brandon Paez (St. Thomas University) and Jeremy Garcia (Minnesota College) was an arduous task.
But his young team finally responded to the challenge, and leading by example are seniors including outfielder Ramid Alvarez, ace pitcher Adrian Garrasta and catcher Xaiver Posada.
Lopez said their first district game against Norland was surprisingly tough, especially since they beat the Vikings in the last 20 meetings. The game ended in a tie but the Gators clobbered Norland, 13-5, in the rematch last week.
Lopez said the first game was an example of the team’s struggles but knew his players would bounce back.
“We knew this season was going to be a challenge and it’s a good thing because our players need to go through that learning experience to get better.”
Lopez said the 3-0 shut out victory of top-ranked Port St. Lucie was in preparation for the Spring Break tournament in Pompano Beach, the GMAC and the playoffs.
“We’re going to find ourselves against power house teams and the toughness will help us play good down the road,” he said.