The Bishop Verot baseball team has had a chip on its shoulder for months.
It's an interesting path to take, considering Verot's athletic programs this year have gone 187-62-3 (.748). But often in rankings done locally or by MaxPreps, the Vikings were ranked second virtually all season behind St. John Neumann.
But now, Verot can have the last laugh as Southwest Florida's last team standing.
At 10 a.m. on Tuesday, the Vikings (25-5) will take on North Broward Prep (26-3) in their first Final Four appearance since 2016, hunting for a third state championship in program history. Verot extended a streak dating back to 2010 with at least one Southwest Florida baseball team advancing to a state semifinal with a 4-0 win over Berkeley Prep last week.
"It's been an up and down, kinda a crazy year for us," Bishop Verot coach Casey Scott said. "There was a lot of stuff we dealt with as a program. The one consistent thing, every single day, these guys bring it. We schedule, play on the road a lot against some tough opponents and we're really fortunate we're able to do that.
"You do it for this. You do it for this opportunity. A couple of weeks ago, I told them that if they finish this thing off strong enough, you'll have the opportunity to never have to leave Lee County again for the rest of the year after spending most of the beginning of the year on the road. I'm so proud of these guys."
The Vikings dealt with a relatively high amount of turnover last offseason, graduating everyday starters in Aidan Knaak, Andrew Hanlon, and Fidel Alviar as well as role players in Trevor Welch and Preston Hall. Coupling that in with losing Timmy Lawson to early enrollment at North Carolina, while Matthew Turner and Parker Turner stepped away from playing baseball, the Vikings had clear voids that had to be addressed.
It prompted younger players in Braylon Sheffield, Brody Baxmann, and sophomore Carter Chalder to step into those roles right away. As a freshman, Sheffield is one point under .300 at .299, posting 26 hits, 7 extra-base hits, 21 RBI, and 17 runs scored. Baxmann, another freshman, is at .274 with a pair of Verot's 12 home runs on the year, while Chalder's defense behind the plate has given him a .990 fielding percentage over 193 total chances.
"We make it hard in practice for them, so the situations come a little bit easier," Scott said. "We've had plenty of ups and downs with everything, but the constant has been the work every single day. It's hard here. The things that we do are hard. What we ask of them is very difficult, and they have to say no to a lot of stuff other high school kids don't want to say no to. Because of that, they've put themselves in situations to experience this."
"When you've got a group of guys that genuinely care about each other and that locker room is as live as it is, 15 minutes before a game, as a coach you take a deep breath and say, 'We're gonna be alright.' They've answered the bell every single day for the entire year."
Against a slightly tougher schedule relative to last season's, the Vikings are hitting 30 points higher as a team at .360. It's a mark just one other team in this year's Final Four team exceeds, making Verot the second-most potent offense in the tournament this cycle.
"Early in the year, I had a couple seniors come to me and kinda reassure me, saying 'Coach, we've got this'," Scott said. "Once you have guys within the program that see it and understand what the standard is and go at it every day, you feel good... It's just consistency. They show up every day and do what they have to do. That gives you confidence as a coach.
"We've been in these situations against good arms, and (Berkeley Prep's Rivers Kurland) was a good one. He's as good as it gets, he's as polished as it gets. We grinded the ABs, we made some action happen, and got ourselves in this situation. It's just been a continual growth pattern for us. It's been a fun ride so far."
Joey Lawson turned in two solid outings for the Vikings in the regional quarterfinals and regional finals, striking out a combined 21 hitters over 10 innings while allowing just five hits and three walks against Clearwater Central Catholic and Berkeley Prep.
"He threw the best game I've ever seen him throw," senior Jason Bello said. "He had 13 strikeouts over five innings. That's the best game I've seen someone pitch... To punch our ticket to states like that was just amazing."
Lawson (7-2, 1.24 ERA) is expected to get the ball Tuesday against the Eagles, who have hit a scorching .352 as a team over their last five games. It'll be the toughest opponent he's seen on the mound this year, but don't expect the sophomore to lack confidence against UCF signee Mateo Gray (8-0, 0.82 ERA), the probable starter for North Broward Prep.
"It's going to take all of the plays we've worked on all year," Lawson said. "We're going to have to play our game and stick to our approach."
Bello goes into Tuesday as the only player on the Verot squad with Final Four experience, having played at Hammond Stadium in 2022 when he was a sophomore at Naples. Bello hopes this year's team can top the run he had with the Golden Eagles, which went on the road as a 7-seed to upset Belen Jesuit, Barron Collier, and top-seeded American Heritage before falling to Jesuit in the semis.
"Don't let the environment take over," Bello said. "Walk in, look at it, take it all in, and that's it. Just another game, that's how we have to take it."
As for whether or not the moment might be too big for the Vikings?
"The bases are still gonna be 90 feet," Scott said. "Everything stays the same for us. We're going to go at this and prepare for it like we would every single day for whoever the opponent is. We'll give it our best effort, I know that. It's always going to be some really good competition this time of year, and that's what you're going to get."
IF YOU GO
What: Class 3A State Semifinal, Bishop Verot (25-5) vs. North Broward Prep (26-3)
Where: Hammond Stadium, Lee Health Sports Complex
When: Tuesday, 10 a.m.
Tickets: $11 per day if purchased in advance via GoFan, $14 if purchased day of
Parking: $10 for cars, $50 for buses
Follow Sports Reporter Alex Martin on X: @NP_AlexMartin. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.
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