Sunday Morning Chat: Central’s Scott Benedict, Part II
Today, we continue our Sunday Morning Chat with Palm Beach Central Manager Scott Benedict. In part two, Benedict talks about his biggest responsibility to a player, the biggest change he’s seen in high school baseball and the thing he cherishes most in his coaching career. Enjoy!
Anthony: Over the years you have had some intense battles with other teams. Give me one or maybe a couple, of the coaches that when you face them the intensity just seems to rise a little bit more than others.
Coach Benedict: Basically, every one in our district. There are only five teams in our district right now. And I have a lot of respect for those other four programs. They do a great job all the way around. Not only with their players, but with facilities, and they conduct themselves with class and professionalism. And you can’t let your guard down any time you play anybody in our district because they’re going to be well-coached, they’re going to have good players and they’re going to strap it on and play hard.
For some reason everybody seems to elevate their game when they play against us. If we just go through the motions, we’ve got no shot. So we’ve got to elevate our game in return or bad things will happen. More often than not, we seem to see everybody else’s number one pitcher. But that’s the way I like it. To be the best you have to beat the best. So if we’re ever going to reach that ultimate goal of being a state champion then we have to go through the best to do it. Hopefully we’ve done enough reps and we’re prepared enough to communicate and execute that fundamentals because everybody in this district comes at you hard. There’s no question about it.
Anthony: Talking about the district, it’s one of the strongest in the state. Last year you had a team that finished fourth and ended up going to the state final four. Talk about after this year and how you feel about the realignment and how you feel about possibly losing a team or two out of what you have now.
Coach Benedict: Well, not only last year did Gardens finish second to last and go to the final four, the year before we had eight teams in our district and Park Vista finished seventh. [laughing] I think they went to the state finals! The realignment for next year, I don’t know what it is. Do you?
Anthony: Not yet.
Coach Benedict: [laughing] We’re just trying to get through today! You know, high school and college baseball in Florida is probably the best in the country. I’m not just jumping on the bandwagon, I’ve seen it. California and Texas are tough, and Georgia is tough. I’ve been out to the National Classic several times in California which a lot of people still consider it to be the closest thing to a national championship that you’re going to find. We actually won that tournament once when I was at Wellington and once while I was here and that’s an accomplishment that our program is very proud of. But you see the high school programs from the other states and you realize that we’re right up at the top here in Florida. It’s not surprising that the competition is so tough in this area and in Broward and Dade. It’s not surprising at all that some of the best baseball in the country is played right here in Florida.
Anthony: What do you consider your biggest responsibility to a player when he comes into your program?
Coach Benedict: To set a good example, for one. Help him keep his priorities in order and that usually goes God, family, school, baseball. Try to help them get into college. Try to get them a realistic fit into college. There’s a lot different levels of baseball out there, so my job is to try and find a fit where they can go and play right away and also get some money to offset the education costs.
Make them realize that when recruiters call, the first question they ask is “How are his grades?” I’m responsible for reminding them all the time that one of the most important things going on is going on over there in those buildings (pointing to the school). Everything they’ve learned over there is going to carry on with them for the rest of their life. I’m constantly talking to them about bad decisions made during adolescence and long-term consequences. I’ve made my share of mistakes when I was their age and I try to make sure that they don’t make the same ones. I spend a lot of time with them during the baseball season; maybe more time than their parents. I try to set a good example and make sure they have their priorities in order and get the train going in the right direction.
Anthony: What do you think the biggest change you’ve seen in high school baseball is from when you started until now?
Coach Benedict: Well, I don’t want to use the term watered down, but when I first started there was basically four or five schools in the county that everybody went to. Even though there are a significant number of programs that still come up with some strong teams today, but… that’s the biggest thing I see is we used to have four of five schools that players went to and now it’s just spread out more and more. I think the kids are different. I think most people would agree with that. I don’t know. A lot of people seem to think that there’s more distractions than there used to be. There’s still a ton of great kids with great ability and work ethic but there are a select few who seem to be distracted a bit more. When I was growing up we didn’t have video games. We went outside and hit rocks with sticks. I’ve got a great group of young men here and it’s just a joy to come out and work with them and see how we can maximize their potential.
Anthony: Your team is one of the best in the county. Is there any area within your team that you’re even a little surprised that its out-performed your expectations?
Coach Benedict: No. We probably under-achieved in a couple of areas. Our team batting average is lower than what I thought it would be. We’ve had a problem with some guys doing things their own way and not listening and hopefully that’s getting turned around. Again, I’ve been happily satisfied with the pitching because we’re not very deep in numbers and out of the five main guys, two of them have been injured. So, the other three guys have stepped up and done a nice job. In our last four games, we’ve only given up four runs. We’re coming off the spring break trip in Orlando where we played some of the best competition in the state. We played the defending state champs Spruce Creek. We played well that day and we were able to get a win. We got beat by a state finalist the next day, Timber Creek, and then we played Flanagan the last game and their reputation and their program speaks for itself. We were able to play well. Like I said earlier, you’ve got to play against the best to be the best. So, that was a good experience for us, going up there over spring break. I hope it will be something we can build on because we played pretty darn good up there. If we can keep the mental focus, hopefully we’ll just keep getting better. It would be nice if we could peak around playoff time.
Anthony: Give me one thing, maybe a moment, maybe an achievement that you cherish most in your coaching career.
Coach Benedict: It was a great feeling to win the state championship in ’99 at Wellington High School. It was a great feeling to win in the National Classic Tournament in ’98 for Wellington High School. It was a great feeling to win the National Classic Championship out in California in 2007 with this Palm Beach Central group. Those stand out.
To see guys go on and achieve their dreams is probably the most satisfying thing for me. Brad Peacock is the first major leaguer from Palm Beach Central and he’s in the starting rotation for the Astros this year. I’m pretty proud and excited about that. But like I said earlier it makes me feel good to see guys when they get their college degree and are contributing members of society, and then they come by and see me and see that I’m still my cranky old self. So, those three.
Anthony: How long do you see yourself coaching?
Coach Benedict: As long as I can have a positive impact on these teenagers here at the high school. I just want to be a servant of the lord. I want to help others. As long as this body of mine will hold up, I’d like to set the tone with my work ethic, but I don’t move around as well as I used to. As long as the aches and pains will hang on and I can keep having a positive impact on these kids and see them fulfill their potential and go on and be productive in society and get their college educations and watch them play on TV, that’s the thrill for me.
Anthony: Alright, lets help readers get a better picture of you off the field with a little game. I’m going to throw out some choices, you give me your pick.
Coach Benedict: Uh-Oh!
Anthony: Don’t worry, I’ll take it easy (chuckling)
Seafood or steak?
Coach Benedict: Steak.
Anthony: Sunflower seeds or peanuts?
Coach Benedict: Peanuts.
Anthony: The long ball or perfectly executed squeeze?
Coach Benedict: Squeeze.
Anthony: NASCAR or soccer? [laughing]
Coach Benedict: Well (looking at Joe Shue)….my catcher here Joe Shue likes NASCAR so I’m going to say NASCAR. [laughing]
Anthony: The beach or movie?
Coach Benedict: Now-a-days, a movie.
Anthony: Travel baseball or high school baseball?
Coach Benedict: High school baseball.
Anthony: Rock ‘n’ roll or country?
Coach Benedict: I’ve probably transformed from rock ‘n’ roll to country.
Anthony: BP or infield/outfield?
Coach Benedict: For me or the players? I like them both. [laughing]
Anthony: The Godfather or Scarface?
Coach Benedict: Scarface.
Anthony: Alright, last one. State title this season and the end of your coaching career, or no state tile and 10 more years of coaching?
Coach Benedict: I live for today, so let’s win the state title this year.
Anthony: Alright, thank you.
Coach Benedict: Thanks for everything you do.
Anthony: You got it.
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