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Plant City baseball coach pitches success

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By DAREK SHARP

dsharp@tampatrib.com

Published: October 14, 2009

PLANT CITY - Mark Persails has lived in Plant City for a couple of years, yet he has a definite sense of familiarity as he takes over the Raider baseball program.

Persails was named the new head baseball coach at Plant City High in late September, taking over for Mike Sodders, who was not brought back after three years.

A 12-year pitcher in the minor leagues, Persails retired from playing then got right into instructing three years ago. He worked at the Lakeland Baseball Academy and last year formed Plant City Baseball Heaven.

"It's a baseball organization designed to help some of the older kids get seen, and go to colleges, and to help younger kids with their skills," Persails said.

In the second year of the Baseball Heaven program ( www.baseballheavenpc.com) the number of teams has grown from to eight. Persails is head coach of the 9-year-old and younger team, and friends such as former major-leaguer Ozzie Timmons help coach the other squads.

Several players in the Baseball Heaven program are prospective Raider players, which makes Persails comfortable about the Plant City High job. He has spent a few weeks on conditioning drills with the team.

"I'm pretty familiar with most of them. I think we should be pretty decent this year," he said.

The Raiders have moved out of the district of powerhouses Lakeland and Sarasota, and could be a legitimate contender to make the playoffs.

Though he never made the big leagues, Persails has plenty of friends in the game who did, including Rays pitcher James Shields. In 2000, Persails was named the No. 1 minor-league prospect in the Houston Astros organization. He also pitched in the Detroit Tigers system.

Detroit drafted Persails in 1994 out Millington High School in Michigan; he landed on three all-star teams in his 12 years. He retired from playing because of a shoulder injury

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