Bishop Moore baseball was on the championship run that gets movies made.
Regardless of how Wednesday’s state semifinal ended, there was plenty of fight within Bishop Moore all season and plenty of resiliency. There was plenty of heartbreak too.
It was a story that captured most of Central Florida as they followed the high school baseball season. Senior captain Joe Skinner ultimately succumbed to his battle with leukemia after finding a way to be the emotional center for the team, standing along his classmates for his senior day a few weeks ago.
A lot happened to this young team. It would have been easy to see them succumb to the difficulty.
Throw on top a lot of injuries and the fact Bishop Moore made it to the state semifinals was certainly something of a minor miracle.
It was a lot to throw on a high school team, even one that has high expectations every year for the baseball team.
“This is the year of us coming together as a program,” Bishop Moore coach Tony Mehlich told J.C. Carnahan of the Orlando Sentinel. “[The players] have put our program on the map for the right reasons. It’s for family. It’s for community. It’s for giving back and helping others. They have that ability to take hardship and roll with it and understand that there’s times to mourn and a time to play.”
The Hornets season certainly could already be considered a success. The storybook was not complete. And unfortunately the perfect ending does not always come wrapped in a bow.
Bishop Moore’s season came to a close Wednesday in Fort Myers, falling to Miami Monsignor Place 1-0 in the Class 5A State Semifinals. The Hornets could not find an answer to pitcher Chris Rodriguez as he threw a complete game shutout to send Monsignor to the state championship game.
Bishop Moore finished the season 24-11 through all the turmoil and uncertainty of the season. The Hornets entered the playoffs unranked and ran through the postseason in Cinderella fashion. They nearly took down this game.
The only run in the game came in the sixth inning as a result of an error and a passed ball. The Hornets gave up just one hit through the first seven innings. Bishop Moore was certainly capable to complete the storybook. Maybe the movie will change that for the audience’s sake.
Bishop Moore’s season now comes to a close. The comfort of baseball to deal with some real tragedy and real adversity is gone for these young men and this team coping with the loss of a teammate and a friend.
It was truly an inspirational run.
