It’s hard to find an area that has found more success in the high school baseball world than Plant City in recent years.
In 2018, Strawberry Crest earned a spot in the FHSAA Final Four, reaching the state semifinals. The following season, Strawberry Crest made their way back to the Final Four where they ultimately faced crosstown rival Plant City in the state finals, falling 3-1 to the Raiders. The state tournament was cancelled in 2020, but Durant made a Final Four run of their own in 2021, reaching the semifinals themselves and ultimately finishing the year with a 22-6 record.
Hopes remain high for Durant as the 2022 season inches closer, but the Cougars will have a new look and will have to find success despite the loss of 14 seniors that graduated in 2021, none bigger than starting pitcher Sean Hermann, a 14th round selection by the New York Yankees last spring.
And while Dylan LaPointe led the Cougars in runs batted in as a sophomore last year, four of their next five leaders were graduating seniors. As for innings pitched? Hermann led the unit handily, followed by two more seniors in Zander Fisk and Ronnie Galleti.
But that’s the nature of high school ball. Seniors leave each spring and the onus is passed on to younger players as they get their opportunity to step up.
“Summer ball was a little different, looking at the young ones coming in,” head coach Butch Valdes said. “Fall was good. We lost 14 seniors so it’s trying to figure out how we’re going to move things around but we actually have a lot of players who got some playing time last year. So we’re going to have a good group coming back, it’s nice.”
While it ultimately counts for very little once the spring rolls around, Durant lost just one game during their fall season, a promising look ahead for the young group.
In addition to a large class of sophomores that will look to make an impact around the remaining upperclassmen, Durant was also able to bolster the roster with a couple of additional seniors that have transferred in.
“We had a few kids that transferred over but then we have some young kids that are stepping up,” Valdes said. “You’ve got Blaine Rowland who’s a sophomore, he’s committed to Florida. Carlos Morales is another one, he’s a sophomore and he’s going to be a heck of a hitter. He was in my lineup his freshman year. We’re going to be OK, we’re going to be competitive.”
Durant will kick off 2022 with a round robin preseason classic with Plant City and Bloomingdale from Feb. 14 to Feb. 16 before opening the regular season at home against Freedom on Feb. 18.
“If they do what they did during the fall, we’ll be OK,” Valdes said about how good this team can be. “If the pitching comes through, that’s the key because we don’t have a Sean Hermann. Blaine Rowland is very good, very good, but he’s also a sophomore so he doesn’t have that experience yet. I think we’re going to be OK and that we’re going to make a good run for it.”