Pirates extend winning streak to 17

It’s been a while since the Pirates lost. March 3, to be exact.

The Fernandina Beach High School baseball team shattered the previous school record of 15 straight wins last week, beating Ponte Vedra and Keystone Heights to extend its winning streak to 17. Along the way, the Pirate hurlers have recorded four consecutive shutouts with 25 scoreless innings. 

“Another great week for the Pirates,” FBHS head coach Jon Shave said. “Pitching was great, and we didn’t allow a run all week. We finished the week off with the 50th anniversary of the Pirates’s first district championship and a 10-0 win over Keystone Heights. Really proud of this team.”

In just two prior seasons has a Pirate baseball team won 15 consecutive games. FBHS managed the feat in 1997 and 2003.
“A number of teams had 13 game streaks,” FBHS coach Ken Roland said.

He remembers all of those record-setting teams. Roland was a member of the 1973 Pirates who captured the school’s first district crown and was head coach of the 1997 and 2003 teams.

Before Friday’s matchup with Keystone Heights, Roland and seven of his former teammates — Gary Globis, Phillip Jones, Carl Sweat, Danny Leeper, Roland’s younger brother Greg, Sammy DuBose and Gary Thrift — met on the pitcher’s mound to throw out the first pitch. Benny Alvarez’s son, Bo, represented the late head coach.

The team also included Ronnie King, Mike Mattox, Gary Bean, David Haney as well as the late Wallace Lewis, Dion Rowland and Randy Higginbotham.
“We were just kind of a group that kind of overachieved and just kind of came out of nowhere,” Roland said. “We were 18-4 and just kind of caught everyone off-guard. We won the district championship, which was a first in baseball at our school at the time. We like to think we started a trend.

“It’s a nice ball club with just a great group with good chemistry, and Benny was a right fit as coach. It was just a heck of a lot of fun. That’s what I remember it as. Just a good group of guys to be playing baseball with.”

Roland said the Pirates went two rounds into the region tournament but were eliminated by Milton 5-3.

“We kind of caught the baseball world in North Florida by surprise and strung together a great season,” said Roland, who was a senior infielder. “We beat a lot of the powerhouse teams. We beat Bolles, Suwannee, St. Augustine, Orange Park, Clay. We beat Suwannee in the district championship.
“That was in the wood bat days, by the way. It was just a team with great pitching.”

The 1997 Pirates boasted seven players who went on to play at the college level.

“I think we were 29-3 that year,” Roland said. “It was a very solid group. We just fell short. A couple of injuries late in the year, but it was a heck of a ball club.”
FBHS lost to Pace in the region championship.

The 2003 Pirates are the lone team to advance to the state Final Four.

“That was a great year, and we strung together a lot of wins,” Roland said. “The team was built to similar to what this team is built like. Great chemistry and the kids like each other and enjoy playing together.

“Solid pitching and timely hitting and you play good defense. I like to think they’re all built the same way.”

Twenty seasons ago, the Pirates lost to Bishop Kenny in the district championship but avenged the loss in the region championship at Bishop Kenny.
“That was probably the largest crowd I’ve seen at a high school baseball game,” Roland said.

FBHS (27-5) was state bound. The Pirates beat Daytona Beach Seabreeze 4-3 in the semifinal to advance to the state championship matchup with St. Thomas Aquinas.

“In a rain-delayed game that was started and finished on two different days, we lost in eight innings to St. Thomas Aquinas,” Roland said.
Getting past the region championship is a struggle in Florida.

“I think we’ve been close a lot of years, last year included,” Roland said. “If you make it past the region final in Florida, that’s a huge accomplishment in a state that the baseball is this quality and the playoff system is single-elimination still.

“I’ve always felt like we’ve had the teams that were capable of doing it, but you just have to catch a break and get over that last little hump. In Florida, that’s extremely difficult to do.”

Some seasons, advancing out of the district tournament is challenge.

“In this district alone, you’re looking at four of the top teams in the state,” Roland said, including FBHS. “Providence, Trinity Christian, Bolles. That’s a foursome that can play with anybody.”

Last season, the Pirates were a game away from the Final Four. FBHS lost to The Villages in the region final.

“I think they took it on as a challenge,” Roland said. “It’s a hard-working group of kids that grind their way through it, worked hard in the offseason, and I think it’s paying off right now. It’s one of those teams that sometimes the chemistry just works, and it makes it easy on a coach. You know you’re kids are going to come to play, and you’re not worried about that motivational speech pregame. You know they know how to get on the field and play.

“It’s fun. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t still be out there after 45 seasons. It’s a fun group.”

FBHS (19-3) is currently ranked No. 9 in Class 3A and 29th overall in Florida. The Pirates cap the regular season today at Stanton. First pitch is at 6 p.m.
Fernandina is the No. 2 seed in the District 3-3A tournament and will face the Wolfson-Andrew Jackson winner in the semifinal round Tuesday. The Pirates host, and the game time is set for 7 p.m. The district championship game will be played at 7 p.m. May 4 at the site of the highest seed.

• The Yulee High School baseball team lost to Tocoa Creek 4-3 on Friday. Mason Jones started on the mound and went 2.2 innings. He gave up four runs. Brodie Nichols went 3.2 and gave up just two hits.

Offensively, Amauri Goff had two hits and Jones, Tripp Hannah and JJ Matuson added hits.

“One inning killed us as they scored four runs with two outs,” YHS coach Fred Matricardi said. “We left too many guys on base and couldn’t get the big hit to extend after getting up 2-0.”

Yulee lost to Wolfson 2-1 Monday. Goff had two hits, and Matuson had one.

The Hornets (12-10) hosted St. Augustine Tuesday and is at home Thursday with University Christian for the regular season finale. Game time is 6:30 p.m. Yulee plays Raines at 7 p.m. Monday in the district tournament.

• The YHS softball team hosts Fernandina Beach at 6 p.m. Friday. FBHS hosts Bolles at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. It’s senior night.