Palmetto Flourishing From Great Baseball IQ

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Danny Smith is finally feeling comfortable with the way his guys follow the program. The Palmetto Manager is now in his fourth season at the helm, and he admits that it was a bit of a rough adjustment when he first transitioned from an assistant coach to the head guy a few years ago.

Now guys are starting to adhere to the game plan, and the seniors now are some of the ones who were brand new when he first took over. There is constant movement during practice, and there is a lot of time spent teaching the fundamentals. These are good ball players and good kids, with no discipline issues and a 3.5 GPA as a program.

“This is a good team,” said Smith. “We have always had a very strong pitching staff and our hitters were so-so, and this is the first time where the hitting may carry us and the pitchers have to step up. We’ve got some pitchers that have struggled and we have some inexperienced guys on the mound. We have some guys that were infielders that we developed into pitchers last year, so it’s been a lot of work.”

The team relied heavily on a senior ace last season, and the rest of the guys worked to develop. The Panthers had some young arms and some infielders that they had converted into pitchers, and they knew it would take time. Coming into things this year the innings are available, and veterans Brent Teller, Carter Nash, Michael Gannon, Felix Garcia, Sean Hurst and Keaton Zargham are all competing for mound time.

“We all embrace it because the competition helps you to do your best and be better than the next guy,” Gannon said. “We are all friends and we all want to see each other succeed, but of course you want to see yourself start games and do the best. So it is a little bit of competition, but it is also friendly.”

Gannon boasts an unbelievable 6.237 GPA, and his intellect is impressive. He has been in math and environmental competitions in the past, and took second place at a national competition last year. Since he is a pitcher he feels this is a good tool to have, since it is a position that requires a lot of thinking and scheming against hitters.

The area where this really helps Gannon is in his future, where it is very likely a college program would welcome a guy with that sort of academic prowess.

“I have liked a lot of colleges, but they don’t all necessarily recruit for baseball,” Gannon explained. “You have to get in academically and try out for the baseball team, but if I can get in academically then the baseball will come with it.”

The Panthers are hoping success will come to this team as well, after all the hard work they have put in together. Smith says this is the first squad he has ever had that does not want to stop practicing, and that he has to chase them off the field most nights. They love to be together and they are close in everything they do. The coaches have always preached to play for each other, but this year they have not had to say that.

The guys are always together; they come to the field together, practice together, leave together, hang out afterwards together, and go to dinner together. It’s a great thing and it makes the coaching easier, and Smith feels if they can apply that to the game they will be successful. They already have everything they have been taught, all the fundamentals, as well as all the swings they have taken and bullpens they have thrown, and the hundreds f ground balls they have fielded.

“We really might be able to do something, we really might,” Smith said. “We have a saying, ‘better today than you were yesterday; better tomorrow than you were today’. Our goal everyday is to work hard.”

Smith likes to share with them a story about legendary New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, in one of his final interviews before he retired. Jeter said that he worked as hard as he did everyday because he was afraid somebody was going to take his position. The team needs to understand what type of effort that requires, and to push themselves that hard.

There are a total of 12 seniors returning to action this year, and all of them will be counted on to contribute. Left fielder Kevin Barbato leads an outfield corps that also includes Freddy Schafer and Mike Schwitalla. The infield group is led by veterans Kyle Toister, Nick Vizcaino and Michael Roman, as well as newcomer Efrain Ruffo. Juniors Brandon Brookins and Carl Heldt will spit time behind the plate. Senior Eric Largo also returns after missing last year with an injury.

Smith knows he has a talented and capable ball club. In the past his guys have been a bit intimidated against some of the elite teams they must face, but he does not expect that from this group. Now they must take the next step and start beating some of those teams.

The Panthers Manager also admits he has changed his style a bit over the years. He used to yell a lot more, and make guys run laps when they made mistakes. Now he has learned that yelling doesn’t get much response, and the time a kid spends running laps could be spent practicing that play and getting it right. There may still be a time for yelling, but you cannot just be hollering at guys all day during practice.

“I try to be more of an educator to kids today,” Smith said. “Kids are a little different now, and if you could play for a state championship with only your thumbs by guys would win because you can’t beat my guys in X-Box.”

There are plenty of guys who care about succeeding this year. These guys work hard and when they leave practice they are a mess. They have learned from last year’s group, which wasn’t the greatest bunch of baseball players but which worked hard everyday. As much as they saw the improvements they were making, their confidence built up and it made them a better baseball team.

Another thing that makes Palmetto a better baseball team is playing on its home field in Coral Reef Park. The team has gone 23-8 at home there over the past three seasons, and has proven it is tough to beat on its home turf. Part of building a program that is able to keep the local kids wanting to come into has been to offer a nice playing facility. So the Panthers have changed the field into more of a baseball atmosphere, and the enthusiasm they get playing on it help them as a team.

Palmetto has made a lot of changes to its field. The dugout is brand new, and the team also took down the fence that goes in the front. They leveled the field and installed a new sprinkler system, as well as putting in a new backstop. They are also in the process of building two new batting cages, and there are plans for a scoreboard in left field and a locker room to be added as well. It provides a great background and an excellent sound system, and guys love playing on their field.

“Palmetto Bay has been great and the city council basically lets us do what we want on the field,” Smith said. “We do have some rules we have to follow, but when we are on this field and in this atmosphere we get them to work a little bit harder. They love playing in their park, and when you are home where you are comfortable and excited to play you are going to get a better performance from your guys.”

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