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Wake-Up Call: Plant's Givens a double threat

News Channel 8 photo by BOB HANSEN

On the mound, Givens is 8-2 with a 1.28 ERA, 81 strikeouts and 11 walks in 60 innings.

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By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 12, 2009

The Wake-Up Call greets you each weekday with news, views and a few Tampa Bay area sports offerings to anticipate for the day and night. We encourage suggestions and contributions.

Good morning!

Plant High School senior baseball player Mychal Givens doesn't consider himself an overly emotional person.

Friday night was different. He practically willed the Panthers to a come-from-behind 3-2 eight-inning victory against the Jesuit Tigers in a Class 5A region semifinal game. When Givens struck out the side in the eighth – his 12th, 13th and 14th strikeouts of the night – he screamed in delight, pumped his fists, then implored his teammates to somehow produce the winning run.

Plant (22-7) got it done. Now the Panthers are preparing for the best-of-three region finals at Punta Gorda Charlotte (20-10), beginning with two games Friday (with an if-necessary clincher Saturday afternoon).

The Panthers, seeking their first state title since 1988 and sixth Final Four appearance in school history, have responded to Givens' leadership.

"It was the best I've seen him,'' Plant senior infielder Graham Ramos said on Monday. "He put the team on his back.''

Notoriety is nothing new for Givens, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound shortstop and power pitcher who has been recognized as one of the nation's elite high school players. He participated in the AFLAC All-American Game at Dodger Stadium and was named recipient of the Jackie Robinson Award, given annually to the nation's top rising senior player.

He already has signed a scholarship with Oklahoma State University. And he's expected to go high – perhaps in the first round – during baseball's amateur draft.

"The honors you get only last for a certain period of time,'' Givens said. "Most of those things are all in the past. We're living in the present. We need to win this thing. Going all the way would mean everything to us.''

Whatever it takes, Givens said he's willing to contribute.

Givens is a pitcher (8-2, 1.28 ERA, 81 strikeouts and 11 walks in 60 innings) who threw in the low 90s during the eighth inning against Jesuit, when his pitch count reached a season-high 115, according to Plant coach Dennis Braun.

"He was done and he wasn't going back out there [had there been a ninth inning],'' Braun said. "We had already pushed it to the limit. Of course, he wanted to keep going. He's such a competitor.''

Givens is also a slick-fielding shortstop and a dynamic offensive presence (.415 batting average, three home runs, 27 RBIs).

As a junior, when the Panthers went 25-5 and lost to eventual Class 5A state champion Dunedin in the regionals, Givens was 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA, while batting .421.

"When the scouts ask me what makes him special, I always say it's the consistency,'' Braun said. "He's solid every day. If you look at the good pro players, that's what they are. They're not always great. But they are good every day. He's a rarity. A lot of people haven't realized that yet. But one day, they will."

Braun said he's not certain where Givens' future lies – at shortstop, on the mound or maybe even at another position. The dual role has helped the Panthers, but also caused some sticky situations.

"It's the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with – having a potential first-round shortstop and potential first-round pitcher and he's the same guy,'' Braun said. "It's nearly impossible because we can't get him enough work as a pitcher. He can only throw so much. There are a lot of shortstops with good arms, but not a lot who can go to the mound and throw 96 [mph]. Some scouts said they felt his velocity was down, but look what he did into the eighth inning against Jesuit. I think it's nitpicking. How many guys can play shortstop all week, then turn in a pitching performance like that?"

Givens won't say whether he's better suited at shortstop or pitcher.

He won't speculate on his preferred path – college or an immediate professional career.

For now, it's about the present, about finding a way for Plant to win four more games and capture a state title.

"These are the moments you hope for,'' Givens said. "Basically, we're having a blast. It's really fun to play the game right now.''

Price isn't right

Rays LHP prospect David Price, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft, is 1-4 with a 4.74 ERA in six starts with the Triple-A Durham Bulls. He has lost three consecutive games. Wasn't it just yesterday that he nailed down the final out in the American League Championship Series, sending the Rays to the World Series?

Actually, it seems like a long time ago.

"I was terrible again,'' Price told the Durham Herald-Sun on May 3, when he lasted just 3 2/3 innings against the Columbus Clippers. "I guess the good thing about baseball is that I get to go again in five days. One bad outing is too much for me. And I've got to be better or I'll be here [and not in Tampa Bay] all year."

Price starts tonight at home against Louisville.

Not bullish on Bucs

Sports Illustrated's Peter King, ranking the 2009 NFL landscape from top-to-bottom after free-agency and the draft, puts the Buccaneers at No. 26 among the league's 32 teams.

"Rebuilding year. Big-time. Whether Byron Leftwich wins the quarterback job, which I expect him to do and then keep the QB seat warm for Josh Freeman 'til 2010, this is a team more focused on next year than this one,'' King writes.

King's top five: 1. Patriots; 2. Steelers; 3. Giants; 4. Bears; 5. Colts.

And his bottom five: 28. Bengals; 29. Chiefs; 30. Rams; 31. Lions; 32. Browns.

Brown honored by Texas League

Oakland Athletics OF prospect Corey Brown (Plant), playing for Double-A Midland, was named Texas League player of the week after batting .450 (9-for-20) with three homers and six RBIs. Brown managed this honor despite going hitless on Friday and Saturday.

Tall tale

According to research by the Washington Nationals, Monday night's game in San Francisco was the tallest duel in history – Giants 6-foot-10 LHP Randy Johnson against Nationals 6-foot-9 RHP Daniel Cabrera (that's a combined 163 inches).

The old record? It occurred on Sept. 1, 2004, at Tropicana Field. That's when Rays 6-foot-9 LHP Mark Hendrickson faced Cabrera, then with the Orioles (accounting for a combined 162 inches). Cabrera's Orioles defeated Hendrickson's Rays 8-0 while Lou Piniella's Tampa Bay team was enduring a late-season 12-game losing streak.

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to former Bucs RB James Wilder, who remains the franchise leader in career rushing yards (5,957) and receptions (430). Today, Wilder turns 51.

The Answer Man

Here's the answer to Monday's trivia question:

Brent Fullwood is the only winner of the 100-yard/100-meter dash at Florida's state track meet who became a first-round draft choice in the NFL. Fullwood, from St. Cloud High School, won the Class 3A state title in the 100-yard dash at 9.9. He played football at Auburn University and was taken fourth overall by the Green Bay Packers in the 1987 NFL draft.

Tuesday trivia

Here's our daily sports trivia question, featuring a Tampa Bay/Florida spin. Try your luck by commenting below.

Who are the only two Plant High School players taken in the first round of baseball's amateur draft?

Check for the answer in Wednesday's Wake-Up Call.

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