Anclote baseball has growing pains

Anclote coach Alberto Santiago lined up his players outside the dugout at River Ridge on Wednesday and had them do push-ups as he talked. The players were being punished for not having their equipment ready for inspection before the game.

It's just one of the many things Santiago has to worry about as a coach of a first-year program. But one thing Santiago doesn't worry about is wins and losses.

"It's really tough because when you're starting a program, you're starting with no upperclassmen," Santiago said. "We're basically working with freshmen and sophomores and maybe a junior or two. The toughest part is at a young age - and it's nothing against them - they don't have experience. Technically we're a JV program trying to compete against varsity-level programs and varsity-level players. Those players are not only bigger and stronger but they're more seasoned and have more experience on the field."

The Sharks (1-7 after Wednesday's 15-3 loss to River Ridge) do have a win (11-1 against Gulf), but they have been mercy-ruled in every loss and only two have gone past the fifth inning. Included in those losses were a 27-0 loss to Class 4A-District 7 opponent Pasco and a 12-1 loss to Class 2A Bishop McLaughlin.

The Bishop McLaughlin game brought back some memories for Hurricanes coach Nick Rodriguez. Four years ago, Rodriguez was in much the same situation as Santiago in starting a program from scratch. But with only 200 students at Bishop McLaughlin, Rodriguez had a much smaller player pool from which to choose.

"They are in a very similar situation," Rodriguez said. "It takes building a program and getting a couple kids to stick around. They're going through the same things I did, from how you maintain a field to equipment to how you get kids playing multiple sports to be successful in yours."

This is the second program Santiago has started. In 2008, he was a coach of a first-year program at Lincoln High in San Diego. That team went 2-22 that season but Santiago learned something valuable from that experience. Last year, he was the junior varsity coach at Wiregrass Ranch.

"You have to remain positive all the time," he said. "I think I got down at times at Lincoln and the players could tell. (The players) feed on your emotions."

But as long as his young Sharks are learning, Santiago can endure the losses.

"As long as we're out here playing baseball and getting better every day, that's the main thing for me," he said. "I don't mind losing as long as we're getting better and learning from every game and taking something from every game. Whether it's a win or a loss, as long as we can take something from every game and improve on it, that's all that matters to me - and I'm seeing that little by little."

Sophomore Vincent Nisi (.389) and freshman Alex Lupo (.312) are the only two Sharks hitting above .300, and Anclote has not hit a home run this season. But again, it's not about statistics for Santiago.

"Alex Lupo is not really an infielder, but he's a good athlete," Santiago said. "He asked me if he could try out at shortstop; he was normally an outfielder. I told him I don't expect you to be Derek Jeter, I just want you to make the routine plays."

Sophomore David Brown has been a special project for Santiago.

"He never even played baseball and he's been coming out since the fall and has been working hard," Santiago said. "He didn't even know how to throw a baseball and now he knows how to throw and field - we're still working on his hitting - but he's shown so much improvement from September to now. He's a kid I normally wouldn't have kept in my program - he probably wouldn't have even made a JV program on most teams - but I kept him because he shows true leadership by example and I wanted my kids to see that."

The season is still young, which means there are probably many more losses for the Sharks. But for Santiago, it's not about the won-lost record.

"I told them we are going to lose more than we win." he said. "As long as you take something away from every loss and get better every day, (losing) doesn't matter to me."

Marquee matchups

It's a light schedule among the top teams, but there are a few games worth checking out. Tonight, Mitchell travels to Dade City to face Pasco. Both teams have only one loss in 4A-7 and trail first-place Wesley Chapel. Also tonight, Bishop McLaughlin puts its six-game winning streak on the line against Class 3A Tampa Catholic (6-1).

On Tuesday, Inverness Citrus visits Wiregrass Ranch in another big 4A-8 contest. After the Bulls' loss to Land O' Lakes on Tuesday, Citrus and Land O' Lakes are only one game behind Wiregrass Ranch.

District standings

Class 4A-7: Wesley Chapel 5-0 district (7-1 overall), Pasco 3-1 (3-1), Mitchell 2-1 (5-3), Ridgewood 2-2 (4-4), Anclote 1-3 (1-7), Hudson 1-4 (1-8), Gulf 0-4 (0-5)

Class 4A-8: Wiregrass Ranch 8-1 (8-2), Land O' Lakes 6-2 (6-2), Inverness Citrus 3-2 (4-2), Brooksville Hernando 4-3 (5-4), Lecanto 4-3 (4-4), Sunlake 3-4 (4-4), Zephyrhills 3-5 (3-5), Brooksville Nature Coast 2-7 (3-8), River Ridge 1-6 (3-6)

Class 2A-10: Bishop McLaughlin 3-0 (6-3), Tampa Prep 1-1 (2-5), Calvary Christian 1-1 (1-4), Indian Rocks Christian 0-3 (6-4)

Class 1A-9: Cambridge 5-0 (6-1), Lakeside Christian 3-1 (4-2), Canterbury 1-1 (1-4), Carrollwood Day 1-2 (2-3), Tampa Bay Christian 0-2 (0-4), Academy at the Lakes 0-3 (0-3), Keswick Christian 0-1 (0-2)

All records are through Wednesday, as reported to MaxPreps.com by coaches.