By Jeff Odom
Jesse Haney could feel the butterflies swirl in his stomach during the hour-long drive to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg May 29.
The Steinbrenner catcher and State College of Florida signee was ready to represent Hillsborough County at the Tampa Bay Rays High School Baseball All-Star Classic, but playing the final game of his high school career on a field where professional stars like Evan Longoria and David Price perform in front of thousands of fans every night made him a bit nervous.
But as Haney stood in for pregame batting practice under the dome, the worries were soon swept away and his focus became evident.
He wasn’t intimidated anymore.
“On the way here, I kept telling myself ‘Do you realize you’re going to play on a major league field?’” Haney said. “It was intense, but I got all of the nerves out when we started hitting BP and I was staying ahead of everything, and I just started playing ball.”
The Hillsborough County all-stars fell to the Pinellas County all-stars 9-1, but at the end of the game, there was a wide grin on Haney’s face.
He was voted the team’s most valuable player after he finished 1-for-2 at the plate with one of Hillsborough’s three hits on the night and a hit by pitch. Defensively he was even better, picking off two Pinellas base runners.
“I don’t know how I got (MVP), but I appreciate it, and it feels great,” Haney said while holding his award, a baseball autographed by Rays’ all-star relief pitcher Fernando Rodney.
“It’s insane to realize that you’re playing in a park that all big leaguers have one chance in their life to play at, especially people that are hometown guys like Longoria and all these guys you see on TV. It’s so special.”
Haney’s Steinbrenner teammate, Chase Turner, was also a member of the Hillsborough All-Stars. The Florida Gulf Coast University-bound infielder/outfielder said representing his school was a special way to end this chapter of his career.
“It was definitely crazy,” Turner said. “I was watching the (Rays play the Marlins) on TV (the night before) and I just couldn’t believe that I would be playing here. It’s an honor to be here, and it’s definitely unbelievable, because going into senior year, I (wanted to play in this game) and I focused on this.”
Carrollwood Day School infielder Dominiq Sicardo was the Patriots’ lone representative in the contest and played third base for the majority of the night.
The senior Pasco-Hernando Community College commit, who batted .313 with nine RBI for CDS this season, finished hitless against Pinellas pitchers Hayden Pieker (Northside Christian) and Evan Graves (Pinellas Park). He said he was proud to have been a member of the team.
“It was a big experience, and I didn’t expect myself to be here, but then again, I (came) in and it was a really nice experience, and I’m really happy to be here,” Sicardo said. “It’s big. An all-star game with everyone in the county and 25 kids come here and I’m one of them? It’s big, really big.”
Gaither shortstop, Florida State commit and projected MLB draft pick, Oscar Mercado, was listed on the Hillsborough County roster, but did not participate in the event.
Pinellas jumped on Hillsborough early and never looked back in the nine-inning contest.
Seminole’s Michael Mann singled to left field to open the second. Then, after Calvary Christian’s Matt Piatt walked, an infield single by Seminole’s Tylor Craft loaded the bases with no outs.
Pinellas plated six in the frame as East Lake’s Troy Strominger walked home a run, Dunedin’s Kellen Brown hit an RBI infield single and Seminole’s Scott Withrow drove in another with a sacrifice fly to center.
Seminole’s Corey Baptist capped the rally off with a three-run home run over the left field wall to break the game open and give Pinellas plenty of cushion.
Hillsborough’s lone run came in the fourth when a pair of hits by King’s Devon Pedro and Haney and a walk to Durant’s Chaz Fowler loaded the bases with one out. A wild-pitch by Seminole’s Stephen Nobles scored Pedro from third, but that’s all Hillsborough would get as Pinellas cruised the rest of the way.
Despite the loss, Haney was proud of what he accomplished and said he would jump at the chance to one day play at the Trop on a nightly basis.
“Heck yeah, that would be awesome,” Haney said with a smile. “Air conditioned, no rain outs, they’ve got a grounds crew. It would be sweet.”
Shining stars
Local players in the 2013 Tampa Bay Rays High School Baseball All-Star Game included:
–Jesse Haney, Steinbrenner, catcher
–Chase Turner, Steinbrenner, outfielder
–Dominiq Sicardo, Carrollwood Day, infielder
–Oscar Mercado, Gaither, infielder*
*Did not play
