Smith, Rodriguez shutout Wolves in Raiders’ win
By Brandon Wright, Features Writer
PLANT CITY – The world-famous Strawberry Festival descends upon Plant City this time every year. The lights of the midway pop in the night sky, music acts fill the main stage and of course, everything strawberry is celebrated.
But the biggest show in town last night might have happened a few miles down the road.
Freshman Alex Rodriguez drove in both runs and picked up the save under tenuous circumstances as Plant City moved above .500 with a 2-0 win against visiting Newsome Tuesday.
“He’s a special kid with a special talent,” Plant City coach Mark Persails said.
Not bad for a kid who can’t even legally drive a car solo yet.
“He’s still a rookie,” Persails said of Rodriguez. “But he plays like a seasoned vet.”
It’s rare for a freshman to see significant playing time in baseball-rich Hillsborough County. It’s almost unheard of for one to be playing arguably the most important defensive position in the field – and hitting in the three-hole.
“What makes him so good is his competitiveness and the way he competes,” Persails said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re 18 (years old) or a freshman. He does it on a day-in, day-out basis. He’s years ahead of his freshman status as far as that goes.”
The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for the Raiders and moved them to 5-4 on the season. Conversely, Newsome saw its seven-game win streak come to an end. The Wolves lone loss of the year came in a season-opening 14-2 defeat to Plant.
“When we play a great team like (Newsome), our confidence level goes up that much more and we try to play harder,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said the past week was a big turning point after the Raiders dropped a pair of one-run games during that stretch, including a 13-inning loss to Gaither.
“We felt very confident coming into tonight after those two tough losses,” he said. “We came out to compete and we’re growing stronger every single game.”
Plant City starter Hagan Smith exited in the seventh after walking the leadoff hitter. Rodriguez slid in from short, induced a double play awarded due to runner’s interference and punched out the final batter to end the game.
“I wasn’t thinking about that being the tying run (at the plate),” Rodriguez said. “In my head I was looking for a double play, not a strikeout. I was trying to make him groundout and that’s just what I did.”
Smith was magnificent for the Raiders. The senior righty surrendered just one hit– a bang-bang infield single in the first – fanned 10 and walked one in six innings of work. He faced just three over the minimum during that stretch and allowed only one Wolves’ (7-2) runner to reach second.
“I felt great out there tonight,” Smith said. “I felt good in the bullpen and I knew I was going to come out there and get them.”
Rodriguez took care of the rest offensively. Eli Thomas (1-for-1, stolen base) drew a first-inning walk and moved to third on an errant pickoff attempt. Rodriguez (2-for-3) then drove him home with a sharp grounder to first and followed that up with a ringing RBI double to deep right centerfield that just tipped off the glove of Newsome’s Lincoln Jordy to again score Thomas in the third.
“We struggled with the sticks a little tonight,” Persails said. “But if you can throw strikes and play defense, you can be in any game no matter who you’re playing against. I’m very proud of the guys tonight.”
⚾
Plant City 2
#5 Newsome 0
N 000|000|0 – |0|1|2
P 101|000|x – |2|2|0
W – Smith (4-0); L – Glassford (1-2); S – Rodriguez (2)
Records – N (7-2); P (5-4).
