Warriors embracing change, find week one success

Steinbrenner senior Austin Liss books it around the bases. Liss was 1-for-1, scored twice, was hit by a pitch twice and drove in a run with a double. 

Mike Camunas, Creative Director

LUTZ — The Warriors have embraced the change.

And their reward? A two-win first week to the season for Steinbrenner.

“I think,” said first-year coach Chenzo Scanio, who is just the second coach ever in program history, “everyone has embraced me well so far. We’ve started out well, and the kids, I couldn’t ask any more of them.

“I just want to see these guys compete and it’s not always gripping and ripping in the box. I want to see them work together and be close and be teammates and, so far, they’ve done that and also won two games.”

Click here for our full photo gallery from this game.

Hard to find fault in a 2-0 start, especially since it’s also a 2-0 start in Class 6A-District 10 play after the Warriors first defeated Tampa Bay Tech 10-0 on Feb. 11, and then 8-3 over Armwood on Thursday evening.

But just exactly how Steinbrenner would fare out the gate was always the question — how would the players take to Scanio, who replaced the legendary John Crumbley? The Hall of Fame coach hung up his jersey after 40 years and becoming Hillsborough County’s all-time high school baseball wins leader.

Chenzo Scanio, a 2016 Tampa Catholic alum, has the Warriors off to a 2-0 start in his first season since taking over after Coach John Crumbley retired at the end of the 2024 season.

“Obviously, (it could have been) a struggle,” said senior pitcher Austin Liss, who went 1-for-3 with an RBI and scored twice against Armwood. “Crumb was a great coach. He won championships here and at Jesuit, but the camaraderie we have here has been great and that’s something Chenzo has been really helping us with.

“I think it’s a great start for us,” he added. “We’ve been working on all the fundamentals and situations and it shows that what we’ve done in practice can be put into the game and I credit that to our coach — he’s awesome.”

Scanio, a graduate of Tampa Catholic (’16), comes to Steinbrenner after a season on the staff at his alma mater, Greensboro College, before spending three years as the recruiting coordinator at Guilford College (NC) — both NCAA Division III programs.

Sophomore Demetrius Baker scored a run in the fourth as the speed-up runner for the Armwood catcher Christian Villanueva 

He inherited a team with nine seniors and some experience in the lower grades, but also a team that mustered just 12 wins last season.

“We’re just trying to get better every game,” Scanio said, “and I told these guys that come April, we’ll see where we are and where the chips lay and maybe try and go win it all. We’re talented enough and have the pieces to beat anyone, but it’s also baseball.

“Can’t win it all in the first week though.”

Sophomore Gavin Mix slides headfirst in third base.

That’s not for the lack of trying.

The Warriors are outscoring opponents 18-3 thus far, and were led vs. Armwood (0-2) by Liss, but also Mason Koumas (2 RBI), while Kelton Meares, Gavin Mix, Nick Osborne and Kason Bell all drove in a run.

Austin Liss earned the win on the mound, allowing one run on two walks across three innings.

Warriors senior Nick Osbourne was on the bases all night, going 3-for-3, with two doubles, adding a run and RBI sac fly.

Liss started the game on the mound, but the righty was pulled after 52 pitches, giving way to Meares, who would throw four scoreless innings on 66 pitches and strike out six.

“When the game got close, we went to our guy Kelton and he got us through it,” Scanio said. “It’s funny, when he was playing football in the fall, everyone was telling me, ‘wait till he gets here (on the mound),’ and the hype was real, because he brought it.”

Steinbrenner senior Kelton Meares took over on the mound with the bases loaded, after Armwood scored a pair in the fourth inning, and kept any more damage to the scoreboard. Meares struck out six, earning a four-inning save. 

The Hawks nearly leveled the playing field in the top of the third, down just 4-3 behind Elijah Battist and Princeton Clark and even Rhyan Yetman, helping his cause on the mound with an RBI. However, Armwood coach Shawn Queen would stick with Yetman for five innings and 80 pitches and the Hawks couldn’t seem to get the Warriors out.

Armwood starting pitcher Rhyan Yetman.

Yetman allowed all eight runs, four earned, on six hits, walked two and had just one punchout.

“We just gotta battle back,” said Queen, whose team went 15-7 for a regional tourney berth last season. “We’ll get back in the cages and start swinging the bats a little better and we’ll get it.

“(The Warriors’ pitches) were around the zone today, but plenty were over the plate because we missed some fastballs out there. Just have to get some timely hits.”

For Steinbrenner, Scanio has shown the players the path to success — and they’ve embraced it.

“It’s really coming down to the dedication we have,” Koumas said, “To work every day, be out here every day and work on doing things right, from dropping down a bunt, to moving a guy over.

“Chenzo has done a great job. We’re doing all the things well, especially infield hitting, and it’s been great. He’s a great coach.”

Liss agrees.

“I know I sound like a broken record,” Liss added, “but it’s been Chenzo who has been telling us all year that we need to just keep on battling back, and we put so many good at bats together today. It was a great game overall.”

Steinbrenner 8
Armwood 3

A 001|200|0 – |3|2|1
S 022|220|x – |8|9|4
W – Liss (1-0); L – Yetman (0-1); S – Meares (1)
2B – Osborne 2, Liss (S). Records – A (0-2); S (2-0).

Categories

Archives