Sailors rediscover fun of baseball, even without state title

The final out of Sarasota High’s baseball season was not met with tears. It was, instead, met with resignation.

Some seniors, eyes downcast, hugged their teammates one final time, patting each other’s backs with their gloves. Others immediately began packing their bags and cleaning up the Hammond Stadium dugout. 

The scoreboard reading 7-0 may have contributed to the subdued reaction. 

Hagerty High beat them at the plate and on the mound, and started their attack in the first inning. The Sailors had time to realize a spot in the Class 8A state championship game was not in their future.

It wasn’t until the postgame news conference that anyone let emotions show — and it wasn’t a player. It was Clyde Metcalf, the Sailors’ skipper since 1982, while speaking about the team’s nine-man senior class.

“I’ll tell you what,” Metcalf said, his voice breaking. “It’s hard to say goodbye to these guys. A very special group.

“These kids excelled academically, they excelled socially, and they really excelled this year on the baseball field. It’s tough. You become a part of their life, and they really become part of your life. They set a great example. They set a tremendous example. I believe, I know, our younger kids will follow it. We’re all going to be better for them. They made us better.”

Metcalf then mentioned how senior Brooks Larson was on the varsity team two years ago, when Sarasota lost the state title game 9-5 to Oviedo High. That experienced helped Larson this year. He came up large throughout the postseason, both as a pitcher and hitter. Metcalf hopes this year’s run will do the same to the younger guys on the team, and allow the Sailors continued success in the future.

The program does have talent coming back. Rising senior Nick Winkelmeyer is currently the only returnee committed to a college program (State College of Florida), but rising junior Alex Ballard showed potential on the mound, and rising junior Ben McCabe, given DH duties in the postseason, will have a chance to replace departing senior captain Cole Madden behind the plate. As long as Metcalf is in the dugout, Sarasota will have a competitive program.

For the departing seniors, this season meant everything, despite bowing out in the semifinals. Take Larson. He’ll attend Northeastern University in the fall, but he isn’t playing college baseball next season. He’s done now, but he made sure to enjoy his final year.

“I had started off the season kind of rough, I started 0-14,” Larson said. “Coach Metcalf came up to me and said, ‘Just have fun out there. This is your last year of baseball,’ and I knew that. From then on, I started to have fun. That kind of changed the atmosphere of the whole team. When you’re just going out there to have fun, nothing can go wrong. You can lose games, but you’re still out there having fun and doing well.”

Larson was a major factor in the Sailors’ postseason success, and his attitude permeated the Sailors’ roster. Senior Joey Arnold, too, was affected. He had originally committed to St. Petersburg College to play baseball before changing his mind and deciding to attend Florida State as a student, giving up the sport.

A funny thing happened during the Sailors’ playoff run, though. Arnold changed his mind — again.

“Now I want to play again,” Arnold said.

He’ll attempt to walk on in Tallahassee.

These Sailors didn’t win a title, but they did rediscover the joy playing baseball can bring.