ARE THESE LIONS FOR REAL?

March 8, 2017 – Fort Pierce, FL – Through six games the St. Andrews Lions Varsity Baseball Team has been nothing short of spectacular. With six wins and no losses so far this season, including four District 2A wins, the Lions have quickly become the talk of the high school baseball crowd all around town.

“To be honest, former Head Coach and current Athletic Director and our Pitching Coach Jason Fletcher really laid the ground work”, said first-year Lions Coach Andy Wells.

Wells has a history of winning. Last year he took John Carroll High School all the way to the State Championship Final Four in Ft. Myers at Jet Blue Park.

“I guess I’m fortunate in that I always seem to work with kids that are coachable and that have that burning desire to win”, say the technology teacher at St. Andrew’s waterfront high school in downtown Fort Pierce. A high school by the way that only has 85 students.

Is it just a fluke or is this team really as good as their record? To find out, Treasure Coast Sports Journal went inside the numbers and here is what we discovered from the official score book.

At the plate, the team has crossed home 78 times, an average of 13 per game, while allowing just nine runs, 1.5 per game, and throwing shutouts in three contests. Just in the last two games, the Lions have outscored their opponents 40-0. The team batting average is a very respectable .345. Lions batters have slugged 56 RBI’s in the last six games averaging 9.3 per game.

St. Andrews hitters come to the plate an average of 24 times per game and reach base safely 83% of the time. The overwhelming majority of their hits are singles as they have had only nine doubles and two triples this season. And striking out just does not seem to be in their gameday playbook as they only whiff 12.6% of the time they are up to bat.

In the field, the team is disciplined as they are able to force an out from opposing batters 71.2% of the time while they commit an error only 8.6% of the time the ball is in play. And if that were not enough, they are the only team in the area to have a very rare triple play this season.

But this team's strong point may very well be the group of flame throwers that Fletcher has been molding the past three years. With an Earned Run Average of a tiny .636 and a WHIP of under one, the Lions are fast becoming known as a power pitching team. This is especially true when two of their five starters are south-paws. 

Want proof?

Look no further than the 13 hits they have given up this year. That’s only 2.2 hits per game – 600% less hits than the team has. And that’s a big number! Factor in that the St. Andrews staff has walked only 19 of the 138 batters faced, throws strikes 61% of the time, average's four pitches per batter faced, throws 16.3 pitches per inning and it’s no wonder these kids control the game.

While some may point to the team’s that St. Andrews has faced, this argument really does not hold up in high school athletics. Remember, half of the games they have played have been against teams in their 2A district. Any high school team in any sport can win any contest on any given day, and that’s just a fact.

But the Lions true test will come on March 22 when they face 8A Fort Pierce Central at Central for an in-school game with the first pitch at 12:45 PM.

Until then, Wells, Fletcher and their kids are just enjoying themselves and having fun. They are bought in and they believe they can win – which they have already proven!