By STEVE JACKSON
All five South Shore high school baseball teams officially opened the 2024 season this week. Lennard, coached by Victor Martinez, is the only squad of the five that finished above .500 last season. The Longhorns lost a ton of talent by way of graduation, but Coach Martinez is rebuilding and eying the possibility of Lennard’s first district title in May. The Horns play in 6A District 11 along with East Bay, Bloomingdale, Plant City, Palmetto and Manatee.
Lennard head-coach Victor Martinez makes a mound visit during preseason action vs. Osceola.
Lennard beat both Osceola High and Hillsborough High last week in pre-season play with statistics not part of the official record. Starting this week everything counts as Lennard initiated diamond action Tuesday versus Alonso High, which was 18-9 last year compared to Lennard’s mark of 18-10. Thursday, Feb. 22, the Longhorns make the short trip to the diamond of the Riverview Sharks, looking to improve last year’s 8-15 record under Coach Garrett Thompson. The Horns will be leaning heavily on several veterans along with some promising transfers. Senior pitcher Zack Bird is back for his last year on the mound for the Horns. Also anticipated to provide some spark and stability from the hump is returning sophomore hurler Talan Miranda. Behind the plate, Lennard returns sophomore Mikie Locke, a .293 hitter last year with excellent defensive skills. RJ Torres returns with a good bat. Torres hit .312 last season and is now designated for third base. Matthew Counts, a senior, is also back after a good year in the outfield and at the plate.
Coach Martinez will miss the power pitchers he had on the mound last year but is depending on teamwork to improve his 44-29 record after three seasons as Horns head coach.
Lennard head-coach Victor Martinez makes a mound visit during preseason action vs. Osceola.
After this week’s early game with Plant and hosting Lennard at 7 p.m., Feb. 22, a road trip awaits the Riverview Sharks next week. Next Tuesday, Feb. 27, Newsome High welcomes Riverview to Lithia for a 7 p.m. game. Chamberlain High visits Riverview Feb. 29. The Sharks dropped both pre-season games last week to Sumner and to Brooks De Bartolo.
Spoto High opens its regular season Feb. 20 at Middleton High under third-year Coach Stephan Knight. A tussle with East Bay at Spoto is set for Feb. 22. Spoto comes to grips with a real test when the Spartans go to Lennard Feb. 26. The Spartans were 10-14 in 2023 and 3-17 in 2022.
East Bay is another South Shore baseball team working for improvement and stability. Under Head Coach Rowland Ruiz, the Indians struggled to a 4-17 record last year. Freedom High came to East Bay for both teams’ opener Feb. 20. Later this week, the Indians visited Spoto on Feb. 22. Next week, EB hosts Sumner High Feb.27 and then travels to play Tampa Bay Tech Feb. 29.
Longhorn junior RJ Torres slides into third during win over Osceola on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
