I don’t think Plant City-area residents could have asked for a better way to kick off prep baseball season, school allegiances aside.
What was echoed in the bleachers during the Thursday, Feb. 23, game — basically, “Durant and Plant City always play each other well” — is true. Sometimes your friends know how to compete against you better than anyone else, and these programs are close enough to know each other like few others in East Hillsborough. That means we, the baseball fans, get to see great games.
So a 4-3 final score in extra innings is a great way to set the tone for this season. After all, who could say no to a rematch between the two teams from last season’s 8A-6 district championship game? Not this columnist, and definitely not the many Cougars and Raiders fans who filled up every seat in the house.
You got to see two potential professional players in Durant ace Jonah Scolaro and Plant City outfielder Dalton Wingo, for one thing. Scolaro pitched fairly well, striking out nine batters and giving up just three hits, while walking five batters. He only got one hit, but no one’s ever going to complain about a two-RBI triple. Wingo didn’t get much of a chance to show his talents at the plate, having drawn walks in four plate appearances, but capitalized on every defensive chance he got.
Plant City’s roster is considerably younger than Durant’s junior and senior-heavy squad, but some of its young guys played well. Shortstop J.J. Gonzalez led the team going 2-for-4 with a two-RBI single, and ace Parker Messick struck out nine batters in seven innings pitched.
It also appears that the Raiders’ defense is on to something good. After Durant’s three-run second inning, I thought the Raiders did a solid job of keeping things from getting any further out of hand. The kids certainly have more to learn about the game, but you can see it coming together.
A lot of people did leave before the end of the game, shortly after 9 p.m., and I’d say they missed out on a solid ending. One of the things I’ve always loved about baseball is that there’s no real clock to worry about, so there’s no way to be “saved by the bell:” it’s all on the individual to come through in the clutch, whenever it happens, and that always heightens the sense of drama for me. Situations such as Durant’s last offensive half-inning, where Alex Molinelli hit the game-winner, and Colyn White pitching the bottom of the ninth, are moments that you can’t really compare to anything in any other sport. Things like that make baseball fun.
These two teams meet again at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 21, at Durant High School, when they’re fresh out of the Saladino Tournament. In my opinion, that’s a date any area baseball fan should save.