Look, Ma, No Games: Santaluces Changes It Up This Fall

It was all conditioning and workouts this fall for the Chiefs.

Santaluces Manager Nick Franco knew it was risky. After all, he hadn’t tried it before in his coaching career. But he had the support of his players, so he figured go for it.

The Chiefs didn’t pick up a bat or throw a ball this fall. Instead, they worked out and conditioned, and they’ve done little else for the past three months. It’s a different approach to the fall at Santaluces, and Franco isn’t even sure what the result will be when spring practice begins in about a month.

“Over the summer, I was coaching five of my own guys, and I thought this is something that might be OK for us,” Franco said. “I talked to all the senior players, some of the core junior guys coming in, and I asked them if they’d be willing to take the fall off of playing and just condition and lift. They all were in agreement. It wasn’t like half and half. They all said ‘Let’s try it out.’ ”

In the past, the team lifted for about six weeks after the fall season. This fall, the team skipped games and started lifting right when school started, four days a week with the returning varsity players.

“I thought that it would be a good team-building experience. I thought it would be a good break from baseball,” Franco said. “They all played summer ball. They all played a lot of games from January to the start of school this year. So I wanted to try something different. I wanted a difference approach. I wanted to get physically stronger in the weight room.”

Franco said he believes the players have enjoyed the fall. They charted their lifts, saw gains and progress, and they saw the difference of working out for three months rather than six weeks. Doing it togther is the key, he said, noting the great attendance and dedication the players gave to the new approach to the fall season.

Senior pitcher Justin Tworek said the workouts have helped the team gel.

“I feel not playing fall ball this year and just working out with the team, we got a lot closer,” Tworek said. “The team chemistry I hope plays a big factor. As long as we play our game, I feel confidence in the kids we have.”

Senior outfielder Tyler Robichaud agrees with Tworek about the team being closer this year.

“I think we get along best out of all my four years,” he said. “We hang out in school, outside school, all the time. We had our groups last year, so it wasn’t really that well of a team together. We had a few guys who didn’t really like each other or get along. This year, we’re all together and get along.”

In addition to bringing the team together more, Franco explained his other reasoning behind going with the no-games approach.

“I think they got more out of this fall than just showing up for fall ball games and practicing once or twice a week,” Franco said. “It’s almost like a catch-22 in my opinion. I don’t want to overwork them because they just got done playing the summer baseball. They just got done playing high school baseball. The fall is normally a time when the pitchers who you are going to envision as the guys who are going to get the most innings, you don’t pitch them that much in the fall anyways. You kind of limit their innings just because they need rest from pitching all the innings from high school to summer.”

The team tried a no-games approach this fall for the first time.

The team hasn’t spent any time on the field this fall either for practice or games, but Franco said he’s not worried about it. He said he’s putting faith in his players to pick up where they left off this summer when practice starts next month. He said he’s expecting a seamless transition.

“We have a veteran group who knows my system,” Franco said. “I’m not concerned about the fact that we didn’t play any baseball this fall. Once a week, we went over a lot of baseball things without being on the field, almost classroom study. Without doing it on the field, they all know what’s expected come January when we start practicing.”

Franco is hoping the team continues its success from last year. Although they finished just above .500, the Chiefs made the playoffs for the first time since 2005, something Franco said he is proud of.

As the Chiefs look to get back to the playoffs this spring, the team will count on its pitching depth for success. The staff features half a dozen players whom Franco is confident will carry the team.

Justin Tworek, who is signing with Santa Fe in January, sat out last year while dealing with a growth-plate problem. He was dominant as a sophomore on the junior varsity team and will be looked upon to flash some of that brilliance this spring. He hit as a DH and played in the infield last year while being off the mound. Franco considers him one of the better pitchers in the county.

“I like to get ahead with the fastball, rely on my change-up — I have a lot of command with it — and then when I have to, curveball,” Tworek said. “I like to get ahead with a lot of fastballs.”

Tworek’s brother Chad also will be on the staff. He pitched well over the summer and is a “bulldog who keeps hitters off balance,” Franco said.

Jaxson Scofield in a hard-throwing lefty who pitched a no-hitter against Palm Beach Lakes last year. Other pitchers include Jonathan Wake, Ben Fagan and Dylan Love.

“I have a lot of quality options on the mound,” Franco said. “I think our pitching depth is going to surprise me.”

One area Franco said he’s concerned about is hitting, because the players didn’t work on that this fall. The team will look to last year’s top hitter, Joe Strzelecki, to come through again this season. He also will be the starting catcher, building off his success in the position in 2013. Franco tapped him for the role last year and said Strzelecki looked like a veteran behind the plate.

“Last year, I was shaky as a catcher,” Strzelecki said. “This year, I’ve gotten a lot better. Coach Franco has taught me a lot. This year, I’m just going to catch, not let any balls go by and lead the team in hitting just like last year. As a catcher, I’m the lead player on the field. I see everything, so I’m going to have to bear down and be a leader.”

Other players who will be counted on to produce at the plate include Robichaud and Troy Steele, the latter who Franco says is “that gap-to-gap player in the middle of our lineup that we don’t have enough of.”

Chiefs Manager Nick Franco oversees conditioning exercises on a recent afternoon.

Franco said the team will focus on small ball while stressing pitching and defense in an attempt to be consistent from the start in the spring.

“Defense seems to be the name of the game in high school baseball with the change in bats, the talent of pitching in Palm Beach County,” Franco said. “You’ve got to be able to play defense and stop people from getting on base and stop them from scoring runs. You’re not going to outslug teams anymore like it used to be.”

Defense is one area that has hurt the Chiefs and has led to inconsistent results. Runs given away from errors is something that may be limited this spring as Franco believes the infield defense is finally going to get cleaned up.

Strzelecki said the team will take a different approach in mentality this spring as it hopes to become an above-average team.

“Last year, we weren’t really focused at the beginning of the season,” Strzelecki said. “We were low and then when the middle of the season comes, it kicks in, and we’re like ‘Oh, we have to start winning.’ This year, we’re just going to try to bear down and win from the start.”

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