Pine Crest Coming Together Under New Skipper Stofsky

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New Pine Crest Manager Wayne Stofsky was not looking for the coaching position with the Panthers. He was perfectly happy and content with his position at the helm of the Cooper City program. Stofsky’s daughter is a Cooper City student, he has a baseball academy down the street from the school and he is the President of the Cooper City Optimist Club. But when Stofsky got a phone call to gauge his interest following the resignation of former skipper Ryan Shealy, he picked up the phone.

“It’s a class school academically and what they’re trying to do athletically I was more than welcoming to listen to them,” Stofsky said. “I’m happy to be here and they’re treating me like gold. It’s a first class organization from top to bottom and it’s a pleasure that each day I am on the phone with schools like Princeton, Dartmouth and Cornell. It’s fun. I miss the people at Cooper City and it was a very difficult decision, but this was the best thing for me and my family. We have a good group of kids and we’re going to be pretty good.”

Rightfully recognized for its academic prowess, Stofsky admits he has already begun to get almost too comfortable with Pine Crest standards. When a Dartmouth coach recently contacted him about some of his players possibly moving on to play their college ball there, Stofsky offered a few names without even stopping to wonder if those guys even had the grades to get into a school like Dartmouth. He admits he took it for granted that they can get into an Ivy League school, even before he learned that they all did in fact have the grades it takes.

In many ways Pine Crest is already like an Ivy League school. The school day is 35 minutes longer than any other school in the county, which equates to nearly an entire extra class period each day. There is loads of homework and exams and the players on the Panthers roster are all true student-athletes.

“Being a student-athlete at Pine Crest is definitely a challenge, but every one of our guys is up for it and can handle all the stuff that we’re presented with each day,” veteran Adam Saks said. “All the coaches are as understanding as possible with the workload. Basically it all comes down to communication; you tell them what’s going on if you can’t make a practice or a lift each day. Me and all the seniors are trying to encourage the younger guys to get to every practice and get to every lift and be able to have that time management under your belt.”

Time management is the key to balancing all that the Panthers take on both on and off the playing field. Pine Crest has an implemented time limit as far as how long they can practice because of the coursework, and there are certain days they cannot play games due to testing taking place the following morning. So the key is to maximize the time allotted. The team does not have lights at their field and also shares the space with the JV and middle school teams, all factors that alter the schedule in comparison to other schools. The key that makes it work is to teach as much as efficiently as possible so as not to waste any of the valuable practice time they get.

“I think Coach Stofsky has handled everything the way it should be handled,” Saks admitted. “He came in with a plan and he’s really having us execute it. We get a couple of lifts each week and a couple of practices mixed in with games. He really knows what he’s doing; he has a lot of experience both playing and coaching. All the players really have bought in completely and we’re really excited about what we can do this year.”

On paper the team has all the ingredients for success. The Panthers best players all fill the key roles on a baseball field, and many of the veterans have years of varsity experience. It is a dedicated group that welcomes hard work and tough challenges, and it is a group that is hungry to taste the sweet nectar of baseball success. The guys are also hungry after a nice showing in last year’s district playoffs, where the Panthers made it to the semifinals before falling 7-6 in a tough battle with North Broward Prep.

The middle of the lineup features three Division I college commits, all of whom are headed to prestigious academic institutions. Zack Kone and reigning Player of the Year Griffin Conine are both headed to Duke after high school, while Saks will move on to play for Cornell next season. The club has six seniors in all on its roster, all of whom will likely play college baseball, and all of whom are also experienced and committed to the season they hope to have in 2015.

The most tenured player on the roster is Kone, who has been on the varsity squad since he was a middle schooler. Even with all the great senior leadership, it is hard to overlook the example set forth when a guy who has been with the team as long as Kone continues to set such an example with his unwavering work ethic.

“I’m the most tenured person in the program both coach and player, which is kind of different,” Kone said. “So I base all my experiences and really teach them hard work and how to play the game the way they know how to play. We’re going to come together as a team. We’re really excited. The district is really good and really competitive and we’re up to the challenge. We’re all working hard and I think we can put a pretty good season together.”

Another area where the team is particularly strong is on the mound, something Stofsky sees as the key to being able to compete night in and night out. The Panthers have four or five legitimate guys that can pitch the baseball, and many of them are still young and therefore have the potential to get that much better with time and experience. Leading the staff is junior left-hander Garret Rukes, who is already committed to Alabama. Rukes grew into the lead role last season and has consistently proven he can handle the responsibility of pitching in the team’s biggest games. Jordan Schulefand, Sam Wurth and Saks are all also guys with the ability to dominate deep into games, giving the club depth it has never seen before on the hill.

“Look, we can be a good baseball team,” Stofsky said. “Last year Pine Crest was decimated by injuries. They had freshmen thrown into varsity games that hadn’t played there before, that were playing for guys who were two and three-year starters who were hurt. If all our guys come back healthy, we’re going to compete.”

Younger guys such as Michael Rothenberg and newcomer Jared de Faria also add depth to the lineup, solid gloves in the field and youthful energy in the clubhouse. Other veterans like Ravi Bakhai and Jacob Singer have also grown to earn more prominent roles this season, and have the potential to explode on the scene this season.

Playing in one of the toughest districts in the area in 14-4A, the team realizes there are no soft spots in its schedule. When Stofsky took over he got phone calls from other coaches letting him know the team owed them a game from commitments previously made, and he felt it was prudent to honor everything that Coach Shealy did last year. If anything he just hopes their schedule is not too tough on them, especially playing in such a daunting district that challenges them so much with each of the other six teams in it.

“There are no cupcakes in our district. Our district is tough from top to bottom and you’re going to have to bring your best everyday to win every district game,” Stofsky said. “We play every team in our district twice, so there’s 12 district games. Then we’re playing in the HSBN March Madness spring tournament and we know there are no cupcakes in that tournament because it is the top 32 teams around. So now we’re at 16 games and we haven’t had a breather yet. Then we’re going to play Belen Jesuit, Taravella, Canterbury, Naples Lely, Woodward Academy and our rivals Pope John Paul II. So we don’t have any easy games on the schedule. We’re going to be battle tested when it comes time for districts.”

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