Duo leads Windermere High baseball to regionals following fifth consecutive district title

After capturing the program’s fifth consecutive district title this season with the help of versatile pairing of players who share the same first name, the Windermere High baseball team fell just short of advancing past the regional quarterfinals round of the Class 7A FHSAA state tournament Friday, April 24, losing to Winter Haven at home 2-1.

“I thought we played pretty well,” head coach Brian Adkins said. “We pitched it well, played great defense. We threatened offensively in a couple of innings; we just couldn’t get the clutch hit. That was the difference in the game. When (Winter Haven) had guys in scoring position, they got a clutch hit, and we couldn’t do that.”

The loss capped Adkins’ second season as Windermere’s head coach. He had been the team’s pitching coach since its inception in 2017, before replacing Windermere’s longtime head coach Eric Lassiter. During Lassiter’s tenure, the team won the district five times, reaching the FHSAA Class 7A State Championship for the first time in 2024.

Adkins led the Wolverines to a 17-8 regular-season record this year and captured the program’s fifth consecutive district title in the process. To keep the program’s momentum going, he strived to maintain Lassiter’s style while benefiting from a dynamic duo of Diegos and instilling batting practice showdowns for Gatorade.

Go Diegos Go

When Adkins took the reins of Windermere’s baseball team last year, he inherited a roster filled with sophomores who had little varsity-level experience. Adkins relished the challenge.

“To me, it’s fun,” Adkins said of coaching younger talent. “You get to kind of mold them as you see fit, and we have a great coaching staff. I’m blessed to have a great hitting coach, great outfield coach, great infield coach. So I really rely on those guys to develop our players on a day-to-day basis.”

Adkins said the staff installs drills and practices they have learned over their careers in coaching, employing a competitive, all-in philosophy that has produced two of the team’s most impactful contributors who happen to share the same first name.

Junior centerfielder Diego Rodriguez batted first in Windermere’s lineup, and senior right fielder Diego Borjas batted second. The two headlined each hitting category this season, helping spark one of the district’s best offenses. Rodriguez led the team with 23 runs batted in and three home runs, while Borjas led the Wolverines with a .459 batting average, .573 on-base percentage, .662 slugging percentage, 34 hits, 29 runs and 14 stolen bases.

“That’s our one-two punch,” Adkins said. “They kind of get us off to the right foot from an offensive standpoint. And they’re the first guys here (who) are working in the weight room, and they’re doing all the right things.”

Rodriguez personifies leadership on the field and in the batter’s box. When he steps in to lead off the batting order, he’ll make motions to the dugout in-between pitches to indicate to his teammates what’s being thrown so they can prepare themselves. As a fielder, he makes sure the other outfielders are in position. During the playoff game, he made a heads up sliding stop in center field to help prevent more runs from scoring in the top of the third. 

Adkins described Borjas as a player who can do it all, and he is unsure how the team will replace the senior going into next season.

“It’d be huge,” Adkins said of losing Borjas. “He obviously leads our team in batting average. He does everything. He can hit, he can steal bases, he’s closed a handful of games on the mound. So it’s not just replacing one position; it’s replacing multiple things he does for our team.”

Adkins described the Diegos as the epitome of Windermere baseball: highly competitive players who hate to lose. However, Rodriguez said the team’s bond forged over many of them playing together for the past three years has been key to winning another district championship. 

Adkins found a way to tap into this bond and competitive drive during practices. While Adkins is adamant practice is “obviously a job,” he strives to create an environment where players enjoy being around each other. Enter a drill that has the Wolverines swing away for a Gatorade of any color.

All work and some play

Junior first baseman Joey Waddingham said a week before Windermere’s playoff contest, the team competed in a “points game.” Fought among three groups of players, the game was a situational batting practice where every batter had to successfully accomplish what’s immediately asked of them. These included either laying down a bunt, hitting a ball into the gap or just advancing the runner. Every successful attempt earned the team a point; the winning team picked their favorite color Gatorade, and the losing team ran a lap.

“Whoever had the most points at the end got the Gatorade, and that didn’t just make us want to compete, it made us have a lot more fun,” Waddingham said. “It made us loosen up a little bit.”

Waddingham’s squad scored 65 of 180 possible points but unfortunately lost by two points after an hour-long, hard-fought competition that came down to the final round. Waddingham said one of the main reasons the program has won five district titles isn’t only the talent of the players but also the bond the team creates in these games.

“I mean, obviously, skills are a big part of it,” Waddingham said. “But you can have all the skill in the world, but if you don’t have a good vibe in the dugout, and there’s hostility between players, well, that’s not really the greatest thing.”

Something to prove

As the season came to an end, Rodriguez looked back on his junior season. What stood out to him was the growth he experienced mentally. He said he started the year off with a very negative attitude, but with the support of teammates he’s been able to push through and looks forward to next year. He added the future of the program looks bright as the JV team has impressed him. 

If all the juniors from this year’s team return next season, Windermere will have 12 seniors on its varsity roster. Looking ahead, Adkins thinks the playoff loss at home will be good fuel for next year’s group.

“They should be hungry,” Adkins said. “We’ve got something to prove, I think. We have a good group coming back next year. We should be senior-heavy, and hopefully we can go on a run.”