- November 26, 2024
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Matanzas will have six seniors on this year’s team.
One thing the Matanzas players learned Feb. 10 at practice is that their new coach can’t count. He gave them 60 seconds to gather all the stray baseballs scattered around the diamond after practice. He counted slowly, from one to 60. Except he skipped the number 14. And 20 through 24. And 38 through 41.
“We try to have conditioning combined with a little fun,” said Rob Roe, who is in his first year as head coach; he was the first assistant three years ago at Matanzas, under Jeremy Kitson.
Conditioning and drills on the fundamentals are the hallmarks of Roe’s coaching philosophy.
“You have to love the game,” Roe said. “If you want to be good at it, you have to work. The coach shouldn’t work harder than the players.”
Kitson and Pete Meyer, Roe’s coach while he played at Florida Southern, were both big on fundamentals, and Roe follows in that mold.
“If you can’t accept the fundamentals and the fact that we’re doing something to make you better as a player … you shouldn’t be on the team,” he said. “We preach discipline.”
Redistricting done by the Florida High School Athletics Association pits Matanzas in a four-team district with Nease, Ponte Vedra and Pedro Menendez.
Last season, the Pirates went 5-15 under previous coach Don Apperson.
Roe said this year’s team will use its speed as an edge.
Roe’s coaching philosophy reaches beyond the diamond.
“We, as a coaching staff, believe that having a team of well-rounded players who are successful in the classroom, respected by the community and have some skill in the game will be more valuable than nine players who are all stars, but who no one respects,” Roe said.
No matter what happens this season, Roe will continue to preach togetherness. “To be the best, you must practice and play like the best,” he said.
POCKET SCHEDULE
7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 13@ Palatka
6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15@ Orange Park
7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17Flagler Palm Coast
4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22@ Mainland
7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24@ Seabreeze
6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27St. Augustine
6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28Warner Christian
7 p.m. Friday, March 2Calvary
6 p.m. Tuesday, March 6@ Ponte Vedra
7 p.m. Wednesday, March 7Ponte Vedra
7 p.m. Thursday, March 15Pedro Menendez
7 p.m. Friday, March 16@ Pedro Menendez
6:35 p.m. Thursday, March 22@ Nease
7 p.m. Friday, March 23Nease
4 p.m. Monday, March 26@ Deltona Trinity
4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 28@ DeLand
7 p.m. Friday, March 30University
5 p.m. Wednesday, April 4Orange Park
7 p.m. Tuesday, April 10@ St. Augustine
7 p.m. Thursday, April 12Iroquois
4:30 p.m. Monday, April 16@ University
7 p.m. Tuesday, April 17Seabreeze
7 p.m. Wednesday, April 18@ Father Lopez
(Note: The March 16 and March 23 games will be played at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, in Daytona.)
