'This season was a huge step for Seabreeze baseball as a whole'

After winning its Class 5A regional quarterfinal, the Seabreeze baseball team's season came to an end with a 6-1 loss to Sebring in the round of 16.

  • By Michele Meyers
  • | 12:09 p.m. May 18, 2023
  • Ormond Beach Observer
  • Sports
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Seabreeze’s four-game win streak and drive toward the Class 5A state championship was halted by Sebring High School in a regional semifinal on May 12.

The Blue Streaks won 6-1. Center fielder Zachary Banks scored the Sandcrabs' lone run at Fireman’s Field, where locals claim Lou Gehrig once hit a home run.

Banks also scored two runs in the first round of regionals in a 2-1 win at Wesley Chapel.

“Going into regionals we were confident,” Seabreeze head coach Jeff Lemon said. “The guys knew they had accomplished something that had not been done in a while (winning a district championship). This team enjoyed that district championship trophy for the 30 minutes after the last out, cooler dumps and photos. After that it was business as usual. You could see a change in the program from content to wanting more.”

This season was a huge step for Seabreeze baseball as a whole. I’m ecstatic to say that I was part of it, but I know the next up will keep it rolling and go even deeper in the tournament. — Dylan Cavanaugh, Seabreeze pitcher

Evan Miller, Dylan Cavanaugh and Ethan Gilbert split pitching responsibilities in the regional games. Miller pitched seven innings against Wesley Chapel allowing five hits and one run with one strikeout. Cavanaugh pitched four innings against Sebring with Gilbert wrapping up the last inning of the game.

Lemon said there were a lot of unknowns going into this season. He was not sure who would step into each position, but as the season evolved so did his players’ development. He discovered Evan Miller and Cavanaugh were the top two on the mound. Zane Barron stepped into the role as catcher where he was skilled at controlling the opponents' running game. 

Cavanaugh said this season was something the seniors had been talking about since their freshman year.

“We wanted to go all the way to states,” he said. “We tried talking it into existence, but we ended up falling short. We did do something for the program that hasn’t happened for a while and that’s a district championship.” 

In 2019, seniors Banks, Mason Boice, Cavanaugh, Gilbert and Miller were freshmen and came into a program that had finished 2-24 the previous season. Conditioning was conducted in the faculty parking lot due to new track construction at the high school. The seniors made a promise to their peers and the coaches that they would “leave the program better than they found it,” and they did.

“This season was a huge step for Seabreeze baseball as a whole,” Cavanaugh said. “I’m ecstatic to say that I was part of it, but I know the next up will keep it rolling and go even deeper in the tournament.”

 

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