Senior catcher sets tone for Panthers

DR. PHILLIPS — Just looking at the record for the Dr. Phillips baseball team, it might be easy to write them off.

With five games left in the regular season, the Panthers are below-.500 at 9-11.

It would be easy to just dismiss Dr. Phillips, especially in a loaded Central Florida scene. 

It might also be a mistake.

Of those 11 losses, seven have come by two runs or fewer. The Panthers’ record in district play is 5-1, making Dr. Phillips a good bet to advance out of Class 8A District 4 and into the Region 1 Tournament in a few weeks.

“In my opinion, our record is deceiving as to who we really are — but we’re still trying to figure out who we really are,” Panthers coach Mike Bradley said. “I think the win versus Ocoee (on April 2), and a good pitcher in (Dylan) Ivory, that was a good win for us.”

Although Dr. Phillips hasn’t delivered at the plate so far this season, the team has seen pitching and defense arise as strengths. Helping to key those efforts, and helping to lead the way by example for a young team, has been senior catcher Matt Sullivan, a college baseball signee who will be off to play for the Argos of West Florida after he concludes his career with the Panthers.

“I can’t say enough good things about Matt — not only is he our leader, he’s our team captain and he’s our field general,” Bradley said. “The guys look up to him, they listen to him.”

Beyond his value as a leader within the program, Sullivan has been strong on the field for the Panthers — on offense and defense.

“He’s like a brick wall behind the plate; nothing gets by him,” Bradley said. “He controls the running game. … We moved him to the leadoff spot (in the batting order) and so now he’s getting on base, and he’s getting to see a lot more fastballs.”

For his part, Sullivan has maintained an optimistic outlook as he and his teammates prepare for the road ahead.

“The pitching has been great, defense has been great — we’re just missing a couple timely hits,” Sullivan said. “We’re right there in all our games.”

However the season ends for the Panthers, Sullivan will turn his attention toward preparing for the next step in his career. After fielding interest from several collegiate programs, Sullivan said he has chosen West Florida (21-12 this season). The program currently has a catcher who will be a senior during his freshman year — meaning the starting job could be his as soon as his sophomore season.

“I didn’t want to go somewhere where I would sit around for two, three years,” he said.

The catcher Sullivan will learn under for his first year is another local product, Edgewater High School alum Kyle Hamner. 

“Right now, I think we’ve got a pipeline going (with West Florida),” Bradley said. “With Michael Flaherty … and then Nik Strasser, our shortstop from last year; he’s actually leading (UWF) in hitting.”

While the future is an exciting prospect for Sullivan, especially given UWF’s history of success at the Division II level, at hand in the present is a team that, despite its sub-.500 record, could be a dark horse candidate to make some noise in the Class 8A State Playoffs.

“It’s the beginning of the season,” Bradley said of the looming district tournament and state playoffs. “If we can find ourselves at the plate, we’re going to be a team to watch out for.”

Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].