YOUNGRY: Royals surprisingly strong this spring

It has been a year of rebuilding for The First Academy varsity baseball team.

After losing 11 seniors last year, the Royals were aware of the task ahead — knowing the team would be young and there were a lot of spots to fill — and were ready to get to work. 

“Going into the season, we knew that we were going to be extremely young, but we also knew that we had a huge amount of talent at the lower level, mostly ninth- and 10th-graders,” head baseball coach Scott Grove said. “I just didn’t know they were going to be as good as we have been early on (in the season). I thought we were going to have a lot of growing pains, just because we had been having the same varsity (team) for the last four years.” 

Almost undefeated this season, the team has managed to put together a 18-1 overall season record. The only loss was to Montgomery Bell Academy (Nashville, Tenn.) during a neutral tournament. Nevertheless, the Royals currently sit as the No. 1 seed in Class 2A, District 7, and are ranked No. 3 in the state. 

“It works out really (well) being at a private school, because we have our middle-schoolers on campus, so we can start them at a really young age when they are in sixth-grade,” Grove said. “They just kind of go through the process. We teach the same things at the sixth-grade level than we do at the varsity level. So, even though they may be ninth-graders coming into high school, they are familiarized with the kind of system that we run.” 

Senior Trent Kelly, who had been part of the state championship teams for TFA for the past couple of years, has helped pass down the winning mentality and close-knit culture the team has cultivated over the years. 

“I feel like (I and the other seniors) — we’ve really bonded over the past few years, and we feel like, if we just continue to try doing the little things right, that will carry down to all the juniors and sophomores,” he said.  

REPETITION ROUNDS

Behind good statistics lies hard work — along with determination, dedication, willingness to learn and passion for the sport — as well as a good practice plan that includes sets of repetitions every day of the week. 

“We run our practices a lot like college, where we have to get 250 ground balls a day if you are an infielder; outfielders get the mass fly-out balls,” Grove said. “Then, (we work) on team defense, where we cover A through Z on defense — first and third base, bunt defense, pop-up priority, cuts, pitchers fielding practice. We do all that every week of the season (divided by days).”

For pitching, the team usually starts three pitchers — all underclassmen. Currently, freshman Ryon Smith and sophomores Kyle Hopper and Thomas Achey are the starting pitchers for the Royals. However, that doesn’t mean they are not considered for the bullpen rotation every now and then or that relief pitchers don’t get the opportunity to open for the team at some of the games. 

“We throw our bullpens, but we have been concentrating in our secondary positions,” Grove said. “As far as the command, we just feel like we want to work really fast and throw a lot of strikes and we think our defense has been really solid all year that you don’t have to go out there and try to strike everybody out to be successful. So, they really have adapted to throwing a lot of strikes and being ahead in the count, and it has worked in our favor so far.”

Hopper, a newcomer to the Royals’ baseball team after transferring from Lake Nona at the beginning of the fall semester, has become an asset — and a stats leader — for the team. His fastest fastball is 89 mph, and his average fastball is in the mid-80s.

“It’s been good so far,” he said of playing with the Royals. “It’s cool to come in and be able to play at a new school. … We are looking really good so far, so I’m excited to see what we can do.”

To achieve a high batting average, TFA’s baseball team focuses on situational hitting and, most importantly, bunting — which has set the team apart over the years as not many teams in the state purposefully bunt as much. 

“We spend a lot of time practicing (bunting), and it’s opened up a lot of doors for us, because it puts so much pressure on the (other team’s) defense,” Grove said. “We really focus on the bunting part and moving runners over two-strike approach and hitting to the opposite field. … I think that’s really helped (the players) kind of understand that your swing is really not going to change but where the ball is pitched is going to change your approach as how you are going to hit it.”