Prep baseball: Lakeland falls in 5A final

A night after rallying to beat Manatee in a state semifinal, Lakeland was shackled during Saturday's state Class 5A state baseball championship game.

The Dreadnaughts lost 2-0 to West Boca Raton Community despite the best efforts of Tyler Howe. A night after tossing 2 1/3 perfect innings of relief against the Canes, Howe went six innings, allowing two runs - one earned - and five hits while striking out three and walking none.

But West Boca scored twice in the second inning, which was enough for pitcher Parker Danciu. The junior walked three, struck out two and allowed five hits.

It was an impressive tournament for the Bulls, who also shut out Pace in Friday's semifinal.

Lakeland defeated Manatee 7-6 on Friday.

Prep baseball: Rain? Rain? Go away!

Well, so much for it being "hot and overcast," as I mentioned 20 minutes ago in my previous post.
As you can see by this picture I snapped from inside a hotel, it is raining here in Port St. Lucie, where Manatee and Lakeland will meet in a Class 5A state baseball semifinal tonight at 5.
This wasn't supposed to happen, according to weather.com, which called for sunny skies and temps in the high 80s. Then again, it isn't happening now, according to weather.com, which has current conditions in Port St. Lucie being "partly cloudy."
Uh...
Stay tuned to Prep Rally for any possible postponements or other weather-related snafus. It appears to be letting up, but it's late May in Florida...so you never really know what to expect.

Prep baseball: Manatee takes the field in less than five hours

(Manatee second baseman Mitchell Shreves takes grounders Thursday during a workout in Fort Pierce)

PORT ST. LUCIE - It's and hot and a little overcast here at Port St. Lucie, where in less than five hours, Manatee meets Lakeland in a Class 5A state semifinal at Digital Domain Park.
Manatee arrived Thursday afternoon and took batting practice for about an hour at a complex in Fort Pierce, located about 10 minutes away from Port St. Lucie.
In earlier action today, Maitland Orangewood Christian defeated Tampa Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate 5-4 in a Class 2A state semifinal.
The winner faces either Pace or West Boca Raton Community at 7:05 p.m. Saturday for the state title. Those two teams 8 p.m. tonight in the other Class 5A state semifinal.
To recap Manatee's stirring run to state, head to Bradenton. com and check out my stories from earlier this week.
I did a feature on Manatee coach Dwayne Strong, a profile on the Canes' band of seniors, a look back at the Manatee's 1963 state championship team, a column on Manatee's arrival and practice in Fort Pierce and a capsule breaking down today's game.

Prep baseball: Hurricanes take BP on arrival Thursday

(photo by John Lembo)

FORT PIERCE - Under the watchful eye of coach Dwayne Strong, pictured above, Manatee spent roughly an hour taking batting practice, shagging flies and fielding grounders Thursday at the Bob Gladwin Baseball Complex in Lawnwood.

The complex, which also includes a football stadium and tennis courts, is located about 10 miles from Port St. Lucie's Digital Domain Park, site of Friday's Class 5A state semifinal between the Hurricanes and Lakeland.

"I just wanted to stay in the routine that we've been doing...and we didn't want to miss a day swinging the bats," Strong said. "The other thing, I don't want to get stale in that hotel room."

The Hurricanes also planned on attending Thursday's Class 3A state final between Fort Myers Bishop Verot and Pensacola. Verot, which eliminated Southeast in a regional semifinal, won the state title with a 4-3 win.

Friday begins with breakfast at 8 a.m. followed by another trip to Digital Domain Park to watch of a few innings of the Class 2A semifinal between Maitland Orangewood Christian and Tampa Brooks-DeBartolo. That game begins at 10.

"Then we'll come back and have lunch," Strong said, "and get ready to go."

With assistant Danny Carter pitching from behind a screen, the Hurricanes batted in shifts. Meanwhile, assistant coach Richard Glass, who is documenting the trip on video, and Strong hit grounders to the Canes infielders.

"We can't stop talking about it, and we can't wait for (Friday)," said junior Correlle Prime, who is 9-1 on the mound and is batting .390.

A win Friday means Manatee plays for the state championship Saturday against either Pace or West Boca Community.

Getting to the final four is an accomplishment. That said, the Canes want to see it through.

"Don't get me wrong - we're not going to tied up in if we don't win (Friday) or we don't win Saturday, it's the end of the world, because this has been a great experience," Strong said. "But I can tell you one thing, if something happens, and we don't (win), it's going to hurt, because these guys put a lot of work in.

"But they're not going to let it take away from their experience, because they're enjoying this. This is awesome."

Prep baseball: Sunny skies slated for Port St. Lucie

(weather.com)

The Weather Channel's website is forecasting clear weather for Port St. Lucie during this weekend's Class 5A state baseball semifinals and finals.
According to weather.com, Manatee will have sunny skies and temperatures topping out at 89 for its 5 p.m. state semifinal aganst Lakeland on Friday at Digital Domian Park.
The report is the same for Saturday, the day of the state final.
The winner of the Manatee-Lakeland game plays either Pace or West Boca Raton Community at 7:05 p.m. Saturday for the state title.

Prep baseball: Getting to know Lakeland

(c2c schools)

Lakeland may be known nationally for its football team, but it's the school baseball's team that's standing in Manatee's way of winning a state title.
The Dreadnaughts and Hurricanes head to the east coast of Florida to Digital Domain Park in Port St. Lucie for a state baseball semifinal slated for 5 p.m. Friday.
Lakeland is 26-4 and overcame the rain to win the Region 2 title Friday over Plant City Durant. The Dreadnaughts have won five state baseball titles, with the last one coming in 1959 when they were a Class 2A team.
Lakeland last made the final four in '08 as a Class 6A team. The Dreadnaughts lost the District 8 title game that year to Sarasota, but defeated St. Petersburg in the regional quarterfinals and exacted revenge on the Sailors in the semfinals.
The regional championship was decided in a best-of-three series back then, and Lakeland defeated West Orange 2-1. But the Dreadnaughts lost the state semifinal to Park Vitsa.
But back to the present: Here is a little info on this year's team.

HEAD COACH: Bob Gendron, second season at Lakeland, 44-9

OFFENSIVE LEADERS
HOME RUNS: Austin Barnett, 4.
RBIs: Erik Barber, 35.
AVERAGE: Erik Barber, .376.
HITS: Erik Barber and Kevin Wortman, 35.

PITCHING LEADERS
WINS: Brad Labozzetta, 10.
ERA: Brad Labozzetta, 0.70
STRIKEOUTS: Brad Labozzetta, 79.
INNINGS: Brad Labozzetta, 60 1/3

Prep baseball: A primer on Digital Domain Park

(wikipedia)

Manatee's first crack at a state baseball title since 1963 will come Friday at Digital Domain Park in Port St. Lucie, where the Hurricanes face Lakeland in a Class 5A state semifinal.
Here is some info on the stadium, which has hosted the state baseball semifinals and finals since 2009.

CONSTRUCTED: 1988
CAPACITY: 7,160
DIMENSIONS: 338 ft. (left field); 410 (centerfield); 338 (right field).
WHO GOES THERE?: It's the spring home of the New York Mets. The high Single-A St. Lucie Mets, a Florida State League South Division foe of the Bradenton Marauders, have been there since the park opened. And the Gulf Coast League Mets played there from 1992-99 before returning in 2004.
MILES FROM MANATEE HIGH: 151.52, according to MapQuest.
MY NAME IS...: The park was originally named Thomas J. White Stadium before being called Tradition Field in 2004, according to Wikipedia. It was branded Digital Domain Park in March 2010.

Prep baseball: Manatee will face Lakeland in state semis

In a game that ended less than 20 minutes before midnight, Lakeland defeated Plant City Durant 4-2 in the Class 5A-Region 2 final at Joker Marchant Stadium on Friday.

The Dreadnaughts (26-4) will face Manatee next Friday in a Class 5A state semifinal at Port St. Lucie's Digital Domain Park, the spring home of the New York Mets.

Manatee defeated Largo Pinellas Park in the Region 3 final, beating the Patriots 12-6.

It is Manatee's first first state appearance since 1963, when the Canes won the Class 2A state title.

Orlando Pace and West Boca Raton Community will meet in the other Class 5A semifinal.

Times are be determined for both semifinals games, but the state championship game is slated for 7:05 p.m. Saturday.

Head to Prep Rally all throughout the week for notes, previews and more on the Class 5A state final four.