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Inside The Concrete Confines

Tribune photo by MICHAEL SPOONEYBARGER

Coach Lazer Collazo, talks to pitcher Randy Fontanez while Mike Consolmagno gets ready in the dugout.

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By BRETT McMURPHY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 19, 2008

TAMPA Before University of South Florida pitcher Randy Fontanez took the mound for Friday's critical baseball game against Notre Dame, Coach Lelo Prado offered some heartfelt words of encouragement.

"Randy, I'll see you in the ninth," Prado said. "I can get any mule to pitch six. Pitch nine, you get a scholarship."

Welcome to the unique world of the baseball dugout, a rectangular tangle of players and managers, emotions and egos, superstitions and strategies, pranks and psychological ploys.

"It's like our little office," USF senior Joey Angelberger said. "It's almost like a dorm room at times."

On Friday, with USF fighting for a berth in the Big East Tournament that begins today in Clearwater, the Bulls dugout contained 35 players, four coaches, a team chaplain, a trainer, two blue coolers labeled SMAAASHH and CRUSHHH and five bags of sunflower seeds.

Plus one sports writer.

1st inning: Before every pitch, pitching coach Lazer Collazo consulted a notebook binder resting on a wooden podium labeled USF Baseball Lazer's Charts. He took two steps backward, in case Notre Dame had a Bill Belichick wanna-be stealing signs, and signaled either a pitch or pickoff to catcher Cory Johnson.

This night, Collazo called 212 pitches and nearly a dozen pick-off attempts during a marathon 16-inning game.

Fontanez bounded back into the dugout after striking out two in a scoreless first inning. Collazo was not impressed.

"You struck out two because you were lucky to strike out two," said Collazo, reminding his freshman pitcher not to be satisfied with one inning.

Senior right fielder Mike Consolmagno draws a lead off walk, but quickly returns to the dugout when he's picked off first. "You don't have to go on the [pitcher's] first move," Prado reminds the team. "The catcher can't throw any one out. We can steal on this guy."

Prado's right. The Bulls are successful on all four stolen bases the rest of the night.

With two outs, Angelberger crushes a ball that hits the screen behind the center field fence. When the ball bounces back into play, some players aren't sure if it's a home run and don't rush out to congratulate Angelberger.

"Is this your first game here?" Prado asks. "How many of you guys have hit that [screen]?"

When the inning ends, Prado says "And you wonder why I drink."

2nd: With his team back in the field leading 1-0, Prado questioned why Collazo jumped on Fontanez. "He just struck out two and you cussed him out," Prado said. "I thought he was awesome and gave him a high-five. What are you going to do if he gives up a hit?"

Top 3rd: Notre Dame shortstop Brett Lilley tries to lean into a Fontanez pitch, much to Prado's dismay. "Don't let him stick his knee in there," Prado yells. "If we're gonna hit him, hit him in the ribs."

Senior third baseman Charles Cleveland is one of Prado's favorites – favorite targets that is – receiving as much needling as anyone. When 2B Jonathan Koscso threw out an Irish batter, Prado remarks: "Good play Jonathan, keep it away from Cleveland."

Bottom 3rd: As Cleveland, one of four seniors honored before the game on Senior Day, strolled to the plate, Prado let him have it. "Hey Charles, I noticed your Dad was walking 10 feet behind you for Senior Day."

Cleveland fired back. "Yeah, he has a [Addison] Marsuzak jersey on."

Angelberger's single scored Consolmagno, who had stolen second base. Prado reminds Consolmagno about the first-inning pickoff. Consolmagno tells Prado he's got nothing to worry about. "If that's the case, if you get thrown out, you run at 6 a.m. tomorrow."

4th: In the top of the inning a Notre Dame home run makes it 2-1. The same inning from his perch along the dugout fence nearest home plate, Prado watched a sharp hit scoot under Koscso's glove into right field. Prado right foot kicked the bottom of worn chain link fence.

It wasn't the last time.

A cubbyhole held the night's supply of David's sunflower seeds. The five bags were available for anyone, but Prado did most of damage.

"I try not to go crazy [eating them]," Prado said. "It matters how nervous I get."

Bottom 5th: With two runners on, center fielder Brian Hobbs hits what should be an RBI single, but the ball hits Consolmagno on his way to third, ending the inning and costing the Bulls a run. "You've got to be [kidding] me," said Prado, grabbing some more seeds. "That can not happen."

Lucky for Consolmagno, this doesn't count as a caught stealing so he won't have to run at 6 a.m.

7th: Maruszak mishandles a routine groundball, allowing the tying run to reach first. "You lead off with a boot, it's going to come back to haunt us every time," Prado said. "The guy [Fontanez] pitches his [butt] off and we can't make a play."

As the Irish tie the game with an unearned run on Matt Scioscia's single, Prado dumps more seeds into his right hand.

With the go-ahead run at first, Collazo asks Prado if he wants a pitch out on a 1-0 count. He doesn't, but Fontanez misses the strike zone. Now at 2-0, Prado is sure Scioscia is going. He doesn't have to – Fontanez balks, sending Scioscia to second.

Collazo glances at his notebook and signals a sign to Johnson. Seconds later, Fontanez spins off the mound and picks Scioscia off second. The Bulls return to the dugout, still tied at 2.

During the seventh-inning stretch, Johnny Antonucci, three months shy of his third birthday, sang a perfect rendition of "Take Me Out To The Ball Game." His mother, Danielle, holds the microphone.

8th: Fontanez neared 100 pitches for the night, so Collazo got some relievers ready. Teddy Kaufman, David Torcise and Stephen Hunt throw in the bullpen.

Unlike the major leagues, there is no phone in the dugout. A player waves a cap to the dugout to see if a pitcher is ready. Collazo also tells Todd Brazeal to run to the bullpen to make sure Hunt is ready.

Fontanez pitches a scoreless eighth, his final inning, and is congratulated by his teammates.

He certainly earned his scholarship.

"Great job, Randy," Prado said. "Now get him a [expletive] run."

Top 9th: Still tied at 2, Hunt started the inning. He walked the first batter on four pitches. One out later Ross Brezovsky crushed a pitch deep to right. A second later, Prado's foot hit the fence almost as hard, making the indention even bigger.

USF players groan in unison as the ball sailed deep in the night. But it died at the warning track.

Bottom 9th: With two out and Consolmagno batting, Irish third baseman Mike Doyle plays back. Prado told Consolmagno to bunt. "I don't care if he knows [you're bunting], he won't get you out," Prado says. Consolmagno made a half-hearted bunt attempt for strike two and then strikes out.

Top 10th: Hunt was replaced by Michael Anzivino after walking the leadoff batter for a second consecutive inning. Hunt stormed into the dugout's storage room and noisily took out his frustrations on the room's contents.

Everyone ignored the raucus. If only the Bulls, who struck out 18 times in the game, made much contact at the plate.

Bottom 10th: Prado asked Consolmagno why he didn't make a better bunt attempt an inning earlier. Consolmagno said third-base coach Bryant Ward didn't signal a bunt. "I don't care what Coach Ward says, I'm the head coach," Prado said.

With one out and Angelberger at the plate, freshman outfielder Ryan Lockwood, reduced to being a spectator by a broken finger, started flapping his arms, like wings – angel wings for Angelberger, who singles up the middle.

Prado signaled for a steal and Angelberger was safe at second. Maruszak was intentionally walked and the dugout was the loudest it had been all night. The winning run was at second with only one out.

Angelberger, however, broke for third and was caught in a run down. He retreated to second to which Maruszak had advanced. With both runners on second, Maruszak ran back to first but is thrown out. Angelberger then tried for third, but was also thrown out.

A 1-5-3-1 double play.

"You can't invent the game," Prado bellowed. "That's Little League. Well, it looks like we've got a new play. I guess I missed that day of practice when we put it in."

From the other end of the dugout: "There's a difference between playing hard and playing stupid."

There was even more bad news for Prado: no more sunflower seeds.

Top 12th: Greg Parris, director of baseball operations, is notified that there are only five baseballs left. "We better call Bubba and get some more baseballs," Prado said of the team's equipment manager.

Notre Dame's Sean Gaston hits a ball up the middle that deflected off pitcher Zach Pietrzyk's glove towards first base and Angelberger, who tossed the ball to Pietrzyk covering the bag. "Just your basic 1-3-1, you don't see that often," Parris said. Replies senior Eric Baumann: "There are a lot of things I hadn't seen before this season."

Bottom 12th: With the clock nearing 11 p.m., Prado had been sitting, pacing or standing in the concrete dugout for nearly four hours.

"Somebody end this game, I might fall asleep," he said. "It's past my bed time.

"I guess the pizza we ordered for 9:30 is stale by now."

Rally hats sat atop each player's head, bill pointed skyward. Some players attached paper cups to each ear, but to no avail.

13th: The rally hats are off. Lockwood paced the dugout with a piece of tape on his forehead: 1 RUN.

The no-hat strategy appeared to pay off. USF once again had two runners on and one out. This time, though, Rey hit a scorching line drive that Irish pitcher Todd Miller snagged and then easily doubled Maruszak off second.

14th: Bubba delivered a box of brand new baseballs and the game played on. Lockwood tried a new rally message on his forehead: KILL 'EM.

It's time for the 14th-inning stretch, but 2-year old Johnny Antonucci can't sing an encore. His parents, Larry and Danielle, left in the 13th inning and Johnny – you guessed it – slept like a baby on the drive home.

Baumann called the team together. A senior who has battled injuries all season, Baumann is best known for hitting a grand slam against the New York Yankees in an exhibition game earlier this year.

He tried to go deep again, this time with a rousing, motivational pep talk: cue Belushi in Animal House. "We know they're tired and all they want to do is go back to the hotel room and sleep," Baumann yells. "Let's win it now!" And the Bulls erupted in wild cheers.

Baumann forgot to mention the part about the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor. USF goes three up, three down.

Top 16th: Collazo and Prado replaced Pietrzyk, who pitched five scoreless innings of relief, with another freshman Drew Malley. In USF's 52 games, Malley has pitched exactly 5-1/3 innings.

Malley retired the first two batters before he walked Jeremy Barnes. On a 2-1 pitch, Brezovsky executed a hit-and-run with a single to right-center field. Consolmagno picked up the ball and fired to the cut-off man Koscso. Barnes tries to score from first as the USF dugout screamed "four, four, four."

After a perfect relay throw from Consolmagno and Koscso, Johnson tagged the Barnes in a bang-bang play at the plate to preserve the tie.

Bottom 16th: The play has revived the Bulls, who sprinted into the dugout. This time, Prado spoke.

"You're going to feel like [crap] if you lose this game now," Prado says. "Reach down in your gut and win this game."

After Prado finished, Rocky the Bull strolled through the dugout for a drink. The SMAAASHH igloo containing water has been emptied, so Rocky settles for a cup of CRUSHHH. "The Powerade always has the cooler name," Brazeal explained.

Maruszak grounded to the shortstop, but the throw is wide and Maruszak slid under the first baseman's tag. Hobbs sacrificed Maruszak to second. Rey is intentionally walked, that gives USF runners on first and second with one out for the third time in the last seven innings.

Junior Carlin, a freshman who entered the game as a pinch runner in the 11th inning and has three hits all season, stepped to the plate. He took the first two pitches outside. The next pitch came in at Carlin's eyes, but he swung. His teammates gave each other the I-can't-believe-he-swung-at-Ball-Three look.

For four hours and 34 minutes, Prado and his coaches had been prisoners in this concrete dugout.

Carlin swung at the next pitch.

The ball lofted into shallow left field and landed just in front of the diving outfielder as Maruszak rounded third base and strode toward home. USF's players and coaches sprinted onto the field.

For the first time all night, the dugout was finally quiet. And empty.

Reporter Brett McMurphy can be reached at (813) 259-7928 or bmcmurphy@tampatrib.com

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