I know the Plant City Raiders didn’t have the best day Saturday, April 22, while playing baseball on live television for Spectrum Sports. Snapping photos next to their dugout, the disappointment among the players was clear as day.
But, that doesn’t mean the experience as a whole was bad.
Everyone that tuned in to the 6-1 Alonso-Plant City game got to see what Raiders fans and myself already knew: that 1 Raider Place is a fine place to catch a ballgame.
I know the Raiders were stoked to be on camera, chanting loudly during every friendly at-bat and carrying themselves as if they wanted to show Tampa Bay how good they can be. The fans seemed to be feeling it as well and, with a program of Alonso’s caliber in town, the atmosphere was definitely different than that of the average high school baseball game.
There’s no shame in losing to a program like Alonso, which is among Hillsborough County’s elite, and this is especially true when it’s not a district game. Plant City has spent much of April playing good baseball, so I don’t see this game or the loss to Newsome two days prior as reasons for Raider fans to panic.
I’m hoping that we’ll soon see more TV cameras coming into town to broadcast live high school sports, and that this won’t be the last time for a while that something other than football attracts that attention.
I’ve long felt that, with so many great programs to choose from on any given night, Plant City teams often get overlooked despite fielding talented squads and playing thrilling matchups. I’ve seen plenty of great sporting events in my time here that would have made for great TV, but the only cameras on the sidelines were DSLRs wielded by myself and other reporters. Sometimes, only myself.
I remember how big of a deal it was when I was in high school 11 years ago. Even when it was Winter Haven High across town drawing the TV cameras, I had enough friends at that school that even I could get into it. It was also always cool to catch the replay of the game, or check the DVR if you had it recorded, if the team you were rooting for won. I guess you just take things like that for granted if you’re used to it happening, but it means a lot for those of us who don’t often have the luxury of traveling to every game or getting regular updates.
In a way, it’s kind of like a good restaurant located off the beaten path: if you only knew where to look, you wouldn’t regret trying it.