Winning doesn’t come free for Freedom baseball.
It’s had just one winning season since 2012.
Its prospects this year, however, are bright.
“This is the first group of players I’ve had for four years, and they have been working their butts off, buying into the program more than they have any other year,” said Patriots coach Tripp Merrell, who is 26-36 in four seasons.
“We’ve never had the work ethic. To finally see that, it’s impressive because it’s all paying off,” Merrell said.
The payoff has been the Patriots’ hottest start, well, ever, in the program’s 16-year history.
At 7-2 through March 21, Freedom is enjoying an unfamiliar feeling of success that includes outscoring opponents 63-24 and going 2-1 in pool play of the Silver Bracket of the prestigious Saladino Baseball Tournament. The Saladino tournament, held annually over Spring Break, features many of the best teams in Hillsborough County.
“It’s Hillsborough County Baseball,” Merrell said. “You’re going to be playing a tough team the majority of the time. You can’t say it’s this or that team — you have to play your best every time. Competition is the real deal in Hillsborough County.”
The Patriots’ only losses this year have come to Durant and in an extra-inning, one-run loss to Robinson in the tournament. With Saladino in the rearview mirror, Freedom now focuses on continuing its best season — and working on what it will take to move on to the postseason.
In the past, teams that won the district, and the district runner-up would qualify for the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA ) regional tournament. This season, however, only the district champion automatically moves up and there are eight at-large bids up for grabs. Those are handed out by rankings that are determined by an unknown algorithm used by FHSAA in conjunction with MaxPreps.
“There’s a lot of good teams we play night in and night out,” said Gio Mendoza, a junior who leads the team with 13 hits and is tied for leading the team with seven RBI. The catcher also noted: “We’ve got a lot of good teams in our district.”
However, he’s confident.
“I think that we can compete with just about anyone. This isn’t the same team as before,” Mendoza said.
Going forward, Freedom will need to show just that.
The Patriots district — Class 5A-6 — is stacked with some very good Hillsborough County teams, such as Hillsborough High and Jefferson. There also is the perennial state title contender, Jesuit, which is ranked 27th in Florida and No. 2 in Class 5A.
“All baseball, especially Hillsborough County, is really tough,” said senior pitcher Evan Mobley, who carries a team-best 0.36 ERA and 27 strikeouts.
“You can’t have the mentality you’re going to win automatically. You have to be on your game every night when you play baseball in Hillsborough County and you have the teams we have in our district,” added Mobley, who is tied for the team-high of seven RBI.
“We can’t look ahead to a game that’s too far down the road,” Merrell added. “The fact is we’re trying to get the best ranking and do that by focusing on the next team, whomever that may be.”
Mobley, a transfer from Tampa Bay Tech, has been a big boost to the roster, however, Merrell feels many of the pieces have been there all along. He calls Mendoza “the true anchor of the team,” while Raul Olivera — the senior centerfielder and leadoff batter who leads the team with 11 stolen bases — “is an absolute stud.”
“We’re just able to build on year after year and focus on the team as a whole,” Mendoza said. “We haven’t had to worry about change or a new coach and that always helps, in my opinion.”
Merrell agrees.
“Everyone has been here a long time now,” the coach said. “In all reality, the best season Freedom baseball has ever had is the ultimate goal, but the key to that is to just play one game at a time.”
Published March 23, 2022
