Prep Baseball Report

Preseason Top 25: No. 24 Plant



By Justin Burgess
Florida Area Scout

Yesterday we released the first team in the preseason top 25 of Florida high school teams. Olympia is ranked at number 25 after losing an immensely talented senior class and losing in the 8A regional finals.

Coming in at number 24 is a program that has some similarities and some differences compared to a team like Olympia. A year ago, Plant HS had an impressive senior class that was led by two first round picks—OF Kyle Tucker and RHP Jacob Woodford. Even though they could never make up for losing two players of that caliber, there are a few reasons why the Panthers may perform at a high level this year than they were able to in 2015.

The most obvious reason as  to why Plant will likely go further than they did in 2015 is that they were upset in the first round of their district tournament and eliminated from the postseason. They also played in a grueling 8A district where almost every team boasted at least one 90 mph arm. That leads to another crucial factor that will benefit Plant in 2016: they have been reassigned to the 7A classification and a district that is not as deep as the one they were apart of last year.

Even though the Panthers underperformed last year and were reallocated to a 7A district, they still have to have quality players returning and perform at a high level as a team. The good news for Plant is that they have a strong core of underclassmen who all started in 2015. Their biggest asset will likely be a sophomore who burst onto the scene and hit third in the lineup as a freshman. OF/LHP Connor Scott is already committed to Florida and is one of the top players in the country in the 2018 class. He possesses a loose and athletic frame at 6-foot-3, 170 pounds and was the most productive offensive player on the team last year behind Kyle Tucker. Scott can also run his fastball up to 86-87 mph off the mound which allows him to be an incredible dual threat. A few other underclassmen who will be vital pieces for success are 2017 INF and Alabama commit John Shields, 2017 1B/RHP Michael Pelaez, and 2017 OF Davis Bak. A senior leader who was one of the top statistical performers a year ago, and who is also a dual threat, is South Florida Signee SS/RHP Nick Cerelli.

Look for Plant to be a focused and determined unit when it comes time to compete for their district title in April. Even though Class 7A is not as strong as Class 8A, there are still many talented teams around the state who have a great chance of making it to the state tournament. If Plant can make it out of their district unscathed, then it will pave a much smoother road through regionals that could allow them to make a run to the state tournament.