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Baseball: Bishop McLaughlin rebounds from tough start

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By RICK HARMON

Tribune correspondent

Published: March 19, 2010

SHADY HILLS - Some coaches might have worried starting the season 0-3 after high expectations.

Not Bishop McLaughlin coach Nick Rodriguez. He knew it was only a matter of time before his young, but talented, Hurricanes would come through.

The Hurricanes (7-3) started the season with consecutive losses to Class 6A Palm Harbor, Class 3A Sarasota Cardinal Mooney and Class 2A Bradenton St. Stephen's in the St. Petersburg Catholic Baron Classic.

But they haven't lost since and are currently 4-0 in 2A-10 play.

"I can't really say there was much of a turnaround, to be honest," Rodriguez said. "We played two 1-run games against good schools. We lost one in the bottom of the seventh on two infield hits and a couple errors. Then we had a blow up game on a Saturday with a young team that wasn't used to playing in the Egg McMuffin game (10 a.m.)."

Bishop McLaughlin led 5-1 against Palm Harbor before giving up 4 runs in the seventh and the winning run in the eighth inning. Against Cardinal Mooney, the Hurricanes spotted them four runs in the first two innings but rallied to cut the final score to 4-3. The Hurricanes ran out of pitching by the end of the tournament and was mercy-ruled by St. Stephen's 10-0 in 5 innings.

One thing Rodriguez noticed was the number of strikeouts the Hurricanes had in that tournament.

"We've worked really hard since that first week," said Rodriguez, who has a 61-47 record in 4-plus season as head coach of the Hurricanes. "That's been the big turnaround. We had 28 (strikeouts) in three games and 20 innings. We focused the next two weeks of practice on 2-strike hitting. We refocused and practiced hard. The team has a lot of talent. We have a lot of ability to swing it and to pitch it and play defense. We're starting two or three freshmen a game. We have three sophomores in the starting lineup."

This year's team only has one senior but that doesn't make the team inexperienced.

"Our lone senior – Michael Bennett – is out here making things happen," Rodriguez said. "He's not swinging the bat the way he's capable of but he's still finding ways to get on base."

Rodriguez didn't have any doubts about his team's ability to hit the ball. He wasn't as sure about his pitching.

"I can't say enough about David Heintz, TJ Wharton and Cy Beermann," Rodriguez said. "Cy had a rough outing in his first start of the year (vs. Cardinal Mooney) but he's bounced back. Everybody's throwing the ball well right now.

The Hurricanes have outscored their opponents 72-12 during the current 7-game winning streak and Rodriguez doesn't expect his team to change their approach.

"I don't see us not continuing to work," he said. "I don't think we're that type of team. And I'm going to try my hardest to make sure we're not that type of team. They believe in themselves. They have confidence. They like being around each other."

Opening eyes
Former Pasco High star Domonic Brown may be a couple years away from making a major-league roster but he made an impression on the Philadelphia Phillies this spring.
Brown, 22, hit .417 (10-for-24) with 2 doubles and 2 home runs. Both of his home runs were against Detroit on March 16 – one off Tigers ace Justin Verlander that landed on U.S. Hwy 19 outside the right-field bleachers at Bright House Field in Clearwater.
"This kid's got tremendous eye-hand coordination," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel told the Philadelphia Daily News. "He can chicken-wing the ball, or his bat can lag, and he can still put the ball in play ... When we squared him up (Tuesday), he put a good swing on Verlander."
After Tuesday's game, Brown got word thst he had been sent back to the minor-league complex and probably will start the season at Double-A Reading (Pa.).
"I thought I was going down last week," Brown said, "This all is a plus for me . . . It's been great. All these guys bringing me in under their wings. It's a major confidence booster for myself; also teaching me the hard-work part of it. I'm happy, but it's a long way to go."

Marquee matchups
Two of the top teams in the county will square off Saturday when Pasco travels to Wiregrass Ranch. The Pirates are tied for second place in Class 4A-District 7 while the Bulls lead 4A-8. Both teams are one game behind Wesley Chapel in the Sunshine Athletic Conference East standings.
On Tuesday, Mitchell travels to Wesley Chapel in a key 4A-7 matchup. The Wildcats lead the Mustangs and Pasco by one game. Earlier in the season, Wesley Chapel beat the Mustangs 7-2.

District standings
Class 4A-7: Wesley Chapel 7-0 district (10-1 overall), Pasco 4-1 (4-1), Mitchell 4-1 (7-3), Ridgewood 3-3 (5-5), Anclote 1-5 (1-10), Hudson 1-6 (1-10), Gulf 0-5 (0-6).
Class 4A-8: Wiregrass Ranch 10-1 (10-2), Land O' Lakes 6-3 (6-3), Lecanto 4-3 (4-4), Brooksville Hernando 4-4 (5-5), Inverness Citrus 3-3 (4-3), Zephyrhills 4-6 (5-6), Sunlake 3-5 (4-5), Brooksville Nature Coast 3-6 (4-9), River Ridge 2-7 (4-7).
Class 2A-10: Bishop McLaughlin 4-0 (7-3), Tampa Prep 2-1 (5-6), Calvary Christian 1-3 (1-6), Indian Rocks Christian 1-4 (7-7).
Class 1A-9: Cambridge 5-0 (8-2), Lakeside Christian 5-2 (6-3), Canterbury 2-1 (2-4), Keswick Christian 1-1 (1-2), Carrollwood Day 2-3 (3-4), Tampa Bay Christian 0-3 (0-5), Academy at the Lakes 0-4 (0-5).
All records are through Thursday, as reported to MaxPreps.com by coaches.

Correspondent Rick Harmon covers Pasco County baseball and can be reached at tampabaystringer@gmail.com or on Twitter at @RickHarmon56.

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