Sports
Patriots Baseball Team "Not Supposed to Be Here."
Pinellas Park, with a losing record, is one game away from the Class 5A state tournament. A win today at home over Bradenton's Manatee High School will send the Patriots to their first state baseball tournament appearance.
This isn't supposed to happen.
Baseball teams that have losing records are not supposed to be one win from a state tournament berth. But that is exactly where Pinellas Park High School's baseball squad finds itself.
Thanks to a newfound stellar defense and a freshman pitcher who is usurped his team's senior ace, the Patriots (13-14), ranked No. 807 in the nation by MaxPreps.com, is just three wins from a Florida state title.
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Wins over Tarpon Springs and East Lake, with heavy favorites Seminole and Dunedin being upset in earlier rounds, has cleared a path for Pinellas Park. Its lone obstacle between the Patriots and a trip to the state baseball tournament is Bradenton Manatee, which Pinellas Park will host tonight (Friday, May 13) at 7 p.m.
"It's very cool to make it this far," said Pinellas Park ace Donny Norris, who will start against Manatee. "We're the only team left in Pinellas County, outside of Shorecrest which is one of the bigger schools."
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Such is the mindset if not inferiority complex the Patriots have. Shorecrest is a school half the size yet Patriots players consider Shorecrest a bigger school due to its baseball tradition.
A win Friday would be the first time Pinellas Park will have played in the state baseball tournament.
Part of the reason for the solid play of late was the team is playing its best baseball at the right time of the season: the postseason.
"It's been the perfect timing for things," Norris said. "If you go 0-25 or 25-0, it doesn't matter. You have to get hot at the end of the year."
That's just what Pinellas Park has done, playing the best defense of the season and timely hitting.
"Now, if something happens, it's not catastrophic," Pinellas Park coach Bill Ruttencutter said.
"It’s nice that I don't have to strike everyone out," Norris said. "Now, I know a ground ball will be an out, a fly ball will be caught."
"It's pretty crazy to go this long," Pinellas Park freshman pitcher Brandon Grigsby said. "No one expected us to go this far."