Donovan determined Lecanto can be winner

LECANTO -- Brian Donovan is an optimist.

The first-year Lecanto baseball coach, whose team finished 7-19 this spring, sees better days ahead for the program. He can picture winning seasons, district titles and playoff appearances.

"The wins will come," Donovan said.

Lecanto was 7-21 last year and 7-21 the season before. But remember this: Donovan inherited a team that graduated its best hitter and had its top pitcher, Jimmy Metz, transfer to Crystal River. Metz is 10-1 with 102 strikeouts and a 0.80 ERA for the third-ranked team in Class 3A.

So maybe 7-19 isn't so bad, all things considered.

"I knew going in it would be tough," Donovan said. "I knew it was going to be difficult to win games."

Lecanto's biggest problem was that it routinely failed to make the routine play.

"I don't like to harp on negatives, but the kids didn't really have a lot of baseball experience," Donovan said. "Real baseball experience ... knowing the game. That was probably the only negative, that they didn't have the fundamentals. That's what we're going to work on."

Donovan, an ex-University of Massachusetts player, is hopeful he can convince his players to compete year-round. He has organized a summer league team to help prepare the Panthers' returning players for 2003.

"We've got to develop players to learn our system and to learn the game," Donovan said. "With knowledge of the game, success will come."

Donovan began readying for the future at mid-season.

After watching several veterans continually struggle, he called up six junior varsity members and gave them immediate playing time. The move rankled the feathers of some, but the first-time head coach thought he had no alternative.

"They weren't getting the job done," Donovan said. "As a coach, it's always hard when you bring up young kids because the other kids have been there a few years and expect to play. But when you're building a program, you're not building for a single season. You've got to see what you have.

"We weren't having a lot of success, so I saw that as an opportunity to play younger guys. We're trying to build for the future. It's tough, but I've got to make decisions that are best for the program and not necessarily individual players."

Positives?

Yes, there were some.

Donovan put hours of work into improving the facilities, and the difference was noticeable to anybody who attended a game at Lecanto in the past. He said he constantly received support from administrators and parents. Not one player quit during the season, and there were no serious disciplinary matters.

"I had more coaches and umpires say what gentlemen our players were," Donovan said. "That was the most positive thing. People told me the kids were gentlemen and that they played hard."

Now, the important question: Is the program in better shape than a year ago?

"It's hard to say, but I do think so, yes," Donovan said. "Since we lost the other day, I've seen some of the kids coming back next year talking about playing in the summer and talking about next year's team. That's a sign that we've turned the corner."

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