TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. -
If you watch the East Lake baseball team play, it won’t take you long to realize that these guys are having a lot of fun.
But hey, you probably would be too if you’ve been winning as much as they’ve been.
The Eagles started off the year in impressive fashion winning their first 20 games.
“I knew we’d be good, I didn’t think we’d be this good,” said senior shortstop Sean Murray. “We always have that goal to win 20 games but to win our first 20 is huge.”
“To be honest, I put a bet when we were 15-0 that if we won 20 I’d dye my hair and as you can see we went to 20-0 and I got the highlights,” said senior centerfielder Wilbert Javier-Vargas.
East Lake has had good teams in the past, but this year’s squad seems to have a little bit of everything.
The Eagles are hitting .367 as a team, have a run differential of plus 160 and their ERA is a staggering 1.15.
“This year it’s kind of all come together,” said head coach Zack Roper. “We have lot of position players who are maturing and reaching their potential for this age. So when you get that kind of gel together, we haven’t had that in the past. We’ve had talented players in the past, but this year it’s kind of all gelling together at the same time.”
While the Eagles cruised to a 20-0 record, they did hit a few bumps towards the end of the season.
East Lake lost a tough 3-1 game to Palm Harbor and then lost another close one to Palmetto to close out regular season 22-2.
“Brings us back to reality and shows us that we’re not on top the world,” said junior pitcher Ryan Slater.
“Sometimes losses are good,” said Roper. “No coach wants to lose but sometimes it allows you to identify areas you need to address, things you need to focus harder on in practice. Things you don’t see when you’re blowing teams out or cruising on a 20 game winning streak.”
East Lake has been to the state title game twice; once in 2002 and again in 2014. The Eagles are confident they have what it takes to get back there a third time.
“We’ve been talking about it, if we keep playing the way we have we can make it cause we have the pieces, we have the defense, the pitching and the hitting,” said Javier-Vargas.
East Lake did all the right things during the regular season. Now the question is, can they do it when it matters most.
“We know the challenge will be difficult but we’ve been working towards this all season,” said Roper. That’s why I tell the kids don’t get nervous before a game. No reason to get nervous, do we have that confidence, yes. I don’t think its arrogance. I think we’re confident we’re doing the right things to win a state championship.”