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Friend Boosts Stroud

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 25, 2008

Pasco wrestler Eric Stroud found himself in an uncomfortable position. Good friend Ray Perez had just finished his match for a shot at the Class 1A 189-pound state title.

Perez was outpointed by Key West's Ralph Major, 7-4. Stroud was next up on the mat to wrestle for the 215-pound title.

As he paced the mat, his iPod drowning out the crowd noise, Stroud fought off any doubts.

In the third period - 4 minutes, 37 seconds into the match, to be exact - Stroud earned a small bit of redemption for his friend and created a long-lasting memory for himself.

Stroud, then a senior, became Pasco's sixth state champion and the first since Tanner Orr in 2003. When the match was over, Perez greeted his friend with tears in his eyes.

"Watching Ray's match, it ripped my heart out," Stroud said as he held back tears after his victory, "because I know how hard I worked, and I honesty think he works harder than I do."

He later commented on what the title means: "It's life-changing," Stroud said. "It's what I worked for."

It was none too easy for Pasco coach Mark DeAugustino. After watching Perez lose his bid at a title and consoling the anguished senior, DeAugustino had to regain his composure and turn his attention to Stroud in the next match. It is a position he and his wrestlers have been in before.

"Not that short of a period, but when Brad Alford lost in the finals in 2001," DeAugustino said, "Ty Reedy came up, and I was like, 'OK, let's get it on. We have to focus at what's at hand. That one's over.'"

After his loss, Perez left the mat area to clear his head. But just before Stroud's match started, he made his way back to the side of the mat to watch Stroud compete.

"It's the world. That's what it's all about," DeAugustino said of Perez's support. "Nobody knows what it's like unless you do it, and that's the honest to God's truth.

"... It's so emotional, it's just unbelievable, and to be able to keep all that in check and wrestle like Stroud did, that's what it's all about."

NOT THAT HUDSON?

For many moons, a game against the Hudson boys basketball team had been viewed as an easy victory. When Jason Vetter took over as coach in 2003, the Cobras went 1-24. They followed that with a 2-23 campaign in 2004 and 2-24 in 2005. Then came a 6-19 record in 2006-07. In February, Hudson entered the Class 4A-District 7 tournament as the No. 5 seed and dispatched top-seeded Springstead to earn a meeting with Pasco in the final. Pasco won, but Hudson's district runner-up spot was major news.

"When we started, the talent level was down, I'm new, so I don't know what I'm doing. Time goes on, I get better at what I'm doing, the players get better," said Vetter, whose team finished 14-14 last season. "The one thing I know is there's no coach that's worked harder than me and there's no group of players that's worked harder than these kids, and that's what we've preached to them, just teamwork and hard work, and I don't know any other way."

FRESHMAN SUCCESS

Former Mitchell softball standout and current Florida State SS Ashley Stager was honored as the Atlantic Coast Conference's player of the week. During a five-game stretch, Stager had four extra-base hits, five runs and nine RBIs. At the time, she led the Seminoles in doubles (three), triples (three) and slugging percentage (.741) and was second in batting average (.407).

BRINGING IT HOME

Bishop McLaughlin baseball coach Nick Rodriguez received two special gifts Feb. 22. Following a tap on the shoulder from wife Melanie at 4 a.m., he rushed her to the hospital, and she gave birth to their first child, Xavier Champion Rodriguez, around 1 p.m. Later that night, his baseball team, assistant Paul Francis and Rodriguez's former Tampa Prep teammates, Ryan Quigley and Bryan Muller, led the Hurricanes to a 5-4 victory against Berkeley Prep.

"They all took care of everything," Rodriguez said. "We pulled off the biggest win the program has ever had, and I wasn't even there."

Being by his wife's side was enough.

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