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Sit? Are you kidding?
By STEVE LEE, Times Staff Writer NEW PORT RICHEY -- No one could blame Sal Torre for not wanting to squat behind the plate for the third game in one day and fifth in three days. No one except Torre. Where else would Paradise Post 79's starting catcher be for the title game of the Tampa Memorial Legion tournament? On the bench? "I'm not surprised Sal caught three games in one day," said Shaun Wiemer, who coached Torre the past two seasons at Gulf. "He's going to put his heart and soul into whatever he's doing. It didn't matter if he played five games. It didn't matter if it was 120 degrees out. It's amazing the type of mileage you get out of a kid like that." On June 2, Torre was behind the plate for a 2-1 win over Tampa Post 248 at noon, a 4-3 win over Odessa Post 147 at 3 p.m. and caught a 15-3 loss to Bradenton Post 24 in the 7 p.m. title game. "(Paradise coach Dennis Laliberte) kept asking if I wanted a rest and I said no," Torre said. "I kept stretching and I felt the same after one (game) as I did after three." Torre admitted the first two games were easier than catching the final contest. Ridgewood pitchers Ronny Lowe and Richie Hittel each breezed through the first two games, but Paradise used four pitchers in the championship game. "That last game I was squatting down a lot," Torre said. But Torre would never admit to being tired. His competitive nature and sense of responsibility won't let him. "I always want to be the best. I don't like to lose," said Torre. As successful in the classroom as he is on a ballfield, Torre graduated in May as Gulf's salutatorian with a 4.26 grade-point average. He also was part of Gulf's calculus team that placed second in the county's mathematics contest in April. He has a full ride to the University of Central Florida's Burnett Honors College to study engineering and business. A second baseman in Little League and as a Gulf freshman, Torre reluctantly moved to third base as a sophomore. And when Wiemer requested a move to catcher, he begrudgingly joined a West Pasco Amateur Athletic Union team in fall 2000 to learn the position. "I hated it because I wasn't very good," Torre said, citing his penchant for allowing passed balls. "Over time, I got better at it. Now, I like it a lot, because you're always in the game. It's never boring." Wiemer, citing Torre's strong arm and quick feet as well as his hustle and grit, figured the hard-nosed player would adapt from third base to catcher. "He's so versatile; his work ethic, his on-field instincts," Wiemer said. "You know, no matter where you put him, with his drive he'd make the adjustment. A kid like that, he's a total team player." Torre usually bats seventh or eighth for Paradise, off to an 8-4 start. He entered Wednesday's game against Clearwater Post 7 with a .273 average, five runs scored and two RBIs. Wiemer feels his former catcher will improve at the plate, basing his prediction on numbers Torre posted as Gulf's third batter in the spring. As a senior, Torre hit .279 with 15 RBIs and 14 runs scored. Realizing his baseball career will end after the season, Torre, a Little Leaguer since he was 8, said he is playing for the last summer "for the love of it, just to have fun. I mean, I haven't got any offers."
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From today's Pasco Times Editorial Letters |
