Diamond in the rough polishes up quite nicely

The outlook for Canterbury's field went from dismal to doable, and the Crusaders have enjoyed a successful postseason run at home.

By EMERY SKOLFIELD
Published May 9, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - What is most impressive about Canterbury's postseason run is neither the team's youth nor the manner in which it has disposed of opponents. It is not that the Crusaders somehow played all four games - and a fifth tonight - on their home diamond.

Rather, the most remarkable sub-plot in the Crusaders' unprecedented playoff trek is that they have a home field at all.

"I just figured we weren't going to play any games here," Canterbury coach Bob Hamilton said of an assumption he made back in February, when the outfield of the school's newly built baseball complex consisted of little more than hard, dry dirt and a few plugs of dying grass.

"Bare dirt and a lot of little rocks," recalled athletic director and assistant coach Dave Smith. "About 10 percent of the outfield had grass on it."

When a turf-growing technique called "sprigging" proved ineffective, Hamilton figured his young Crusaders would play this season's home games at Lake Vista Park or Miller Huggins Field.

But everything changed when a group of families affiliated with the school put together the necessary funds to sod the outfield. A couple of weeks, tens of thousands of dollars and several 80-foot rolls of Bermuda grass later, Canterbury had outfield turf and a home field that was ready for action.

Tonight, the Crusaders (26-3) will take the stage one more time, hosting reigning state runnerup Sarasota Christian (15-13) at 7 p.m..

"Just to get the field ready to play on was the initial surprise," said Hamilton, whose team is ranked No. 2 in Class A and has outscored opponents 301-39 this season. "They put down that sod, the grass grew, and so did our season."

Canterbury, which had only one region victory in school history coming into this season, has notched consecutive shutouts behind the sophomore right arms of Joey Cuda (10-2) and tonight's starter, Brandon Hamilton (6-1), and have outscored their past four opponents 21-3.

"I can just see the sense of pride that everybody is starting to have," said Coach Hamilton, who starts six sophomores. "People around the school are getting excited. The whole dynamic around the school is starting to change, and it's great to see."

SARASOTA CHRISTIAN (15-13) AT CANTERBURY (26-3), 7 p.m.: Sarasota Christian, the defending state runnerup, is rolling after entering the district tournament with a losing record. But don't be too impressed, as it has beaten Cambridge (a team Canterbury beat three times) and Port St. Lucie Morningside (a 6-14 team) to get here. The No. 2 Crusaders have only scored nine runs in their past three games, but have allowed just one and haven't lost to a Class A team all season.

[Last modified May 9, 2006, 00:42:06]