Thunder's season ends in regional quarterfinals

ST. PETERSBURG — Tyler Dietrich and Austin Hoppe stood in the visiting dugout and looked on as the Thunder headed to the plate in the top of the sixth inning.

Heeding the advice of their coaches, the two Out-of-Door Academy freshmen grabbed their baseball hats and sunglasses. They tossed their shades on upside down and put their hats on sideways, looking to rally teammates back from a 6-1 deficit.

It didn’t take long for their teammates to catch on and before long half of ODA’s roster was sporting a similar look.

And while its temporary new look didn’t keep the Thunder from seeing their season come to an end with a 6-1 loss to St. Petersburg Catholic in the Class 3A-Region 3 quarterfinals May 2, it reminded the players the importance of staying competitive while having fun at the same time.

“That’s the one thing the young kids have a difficult time with is they want to compete so bad and do well that they don’t understand that baseball is a game of failure,” ODA coach Billy Dietrich said. “It’s important (to have fun). We preach to go out and have fun and play the game the right way.”

St. Pete jumped out to a 5-0 lead, scoring four runs in the bottom of the second inning. ODA, which notched a hit in every inning except the top of the sixth, scored its lone run in the top of the third inning.

Jake Romine hit a double and advanced to third on a single by Tyler Dietrich. Romine came around to score on a RBI by Zach Hoppe.

ODA finished its best season in school history with a 19-5 record and reached the regional tournament for the second consecutive season. The Thunder loses two seniors — Zach Hoppe and Joey Grano — from this year’s 13-man roster.

But with six freshmen and an eighth-grader in its starting lineup, the future looks bright for the Thunder.

“I’m so proud of Zach and Joey for the leadership they’ve had this year,” Billy Dietrich said. “The future is good — there’s no question. We won’t sneak up on anybody.

“It was a great season,” he said. “We played top-notch competition this year, and we’re going to continue to do that next year.”

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].