DP baseball shows grit during rivalry weekend

Coming off encouraging back-to-back rivalry games, the Dr. Phillips High School Panthers are in much better shape than their 1-4 record suggests.

On Feb. 20, the Panthers rallied past host West Orange, 3-2, spoiling the debut of the Warriors at the recently renamed Heller Bros. Ballpark. The next afternoon, on Feb. 21, Dr. Phillips nearly knocked off nationally ranked Olympia. The Titans won on a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh, 4-3.

Add to that equation the Panthers’ other three losses were to Seminole County powerhouses Lake Mary, Oviedo and Winter Springs, and a picture comes into view that is less about a struggling team and more about a young ballclub that is heading in the right direction.

“We’ve got some spunk, we’re competitive, and we’re going to compete,” head coach Mike Bradley said after Saturday’s loss to Olympia. “We’re a few pieces away — and when I say that, I’m talking about a few guys believing that they can do it. We’re a few pieces away from being able to do that on a regular basis — compete with teams like (the Titans) and win.”

Bradley purposely scheduled a tough start to the season for his team, which is heavy in juniors, and hopes it will pay off as Dr. Phillips gets an early start on district play this week with two games against the rival Boone Braves (at Boone on Wednesday, at Dr. Phillips on Friday; both games at 4 p.m.).

“You make a tough schedule to prepare yourself for the end of the year,” Bradley said. “You know you’re going to be in some battles and see who you are early on.”

Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].