Coach Rick O’Dette has reached his 500th career victory with the win over West Alabama. The winning feeling around the baseball program is picking up again.
Credit: @saintleobase
Saint Leo sports as a whole have been on a tear this season. The baseball team has started the season with a 6-2 record going into this weekend against the Lynn Golden Knights, but before we look forward, we need to take a step back and recognize a milestone for one of the newest Lions.
Head coach for the baseball program, Rick O’Dette, recorded his 500th career victory Feb. 18 at home against West Alabama. This victory happened 17 years and one day since his first victory as a head coach. This victory was due to eight unanswered runs to come from behind to win the game 9-6 to clinch the series win as well.
Coach O’Dette looked at the game similar to how he does every game. “We tell the guys to play every pitch one at a time. I knew it was coming up, but our main goal was to keep taking advantage of every opportunity,”
The team has been clicking under the new head coach as the Lions have scored 42 runs in the first eight games of the season. Three players (junior Brett Coffel, junior Peyton Isaacson, and senior Zach Scott) have cracked double digits in the hit column, and their pitching has been able to keep the baseball inside of the park, giving up four home runs this season.
“I like the direction we are heading. We are starting to understand the ‘family concept.’ We stress that is about us and not I. That has helped us with our early success. We still have a long way to go.”
If the team is able to keep up the way they opened the season, there could be some big things happening for the program in a short amount of time. The Sunshine State Conference named Coffel Baseball Player of the Week for the first time in his career for his play this past week as well.
There is certainly a buzz surrounding the baseball team after how they came out firing this season, and it is looking like this could be the Lions’ first appearance in the NCAA tournament since the 2001 season. Coach O’Dette is not looking that far into the future as there still is a long time until the end of the regular season.
“We are extremely excited about the Saint Leo Community. We want to be out and support every aspect of our institution, and we truly appreciate the home crowds we have had up to this point. We look forward to playing in front of great crowds. Go Lions!”
After their series this weekend against the Golden Knights in Boca Raton, the Lions will play 13 of their 16 games at home starting March 2. Make sure to go out and support the Lions, not only in baseball but for all athletic events.
