- April 24, 2024
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Zach Hawk, Nick Restuccia and Tommy Roache have high aspirations for 2013, including scholarship offers and a state championship.
BY MATT MENCARINI | STAFF WRITER
Sometimes history repeats itself. And three seniors on the Father Lopez baseball team are hoping it can happen for them.
Zach Hawk, Nick Restuccia and Tommy Roache started playing baseball together in the Ormond Beach Golden Spikes program, on the 10U team. And in their final year together, before heading off to high school, with other friends and teammates all headed off to other schools, they won a state championship.
“Just the fact that it was our last game with all the Seabreeze kids, and the (Spruce) Creek kids, (made it special),” Hawk said. “I already knew I wasn’t going to play another game with them, so it was something special.”
All three say they have aspirations of playing in college and have had some level of discussion with college coaches. But leading up to their final year of high school baseball, they also want something else.
“I came here to win a state championship,” Roache said. “And we haven’t gotten one yet. So, all this (offseason), that’s all I’m working for.”
Hawk, Restuccia and Roache are among nine seniors, a large class, who for the first time are playing for the same head coach for the second consecutive year since they arrived at Father Lopez.
Trevor Berryhill took over as the school’s athletic director and head baseball coach last season. He had previously spent time coaching Division I baseball, after finishing his playing career at the University of South Carolina Upstate.
Berryhill said there were struggles last season, but players like Hawk, Restuccia and Roache — juniors at the time — stepped up, and they continue to now.
The Green Wave advanced to the regional quarterfinals last season, after a 1-5 start, when Restuccia hit a walk-off, bases-loaded double against St. Francis Catholic.
“Those three guys, they’re going to do what I ask them to do,” Berryhill said. “And I think that has a trickle-down effect.”
Ian Farrell, another senior, signed a letter of intent to the University of South Carolina Upstate Nov. 15, and Berryhill said Hawk, Restuccia and Roache will all have an opportunity to play in college, as well.
“I’m talking to college coaches on a daily basis, whether it’s through email or phone,” he said. “(Playing in college) is a great experience. And I want that for those guys. And we’ll keep looking all the way until school starts next year, to find them a place.
But he's not too worried about it. He believes they'll all find positions at the next level.
"To me," he said, "that’s my main priority.”
Most colleges also give partial scholarships for baseball, instead of full scholarships commonly seen for basketball or football. Being able to receive academic scholarship money makes prospects like Hawk, Restuccia and Roache, more valuable for coaches.
And the academic workload at Father Lopez contributes to that value.
“They don’t mess around here, with grades,” Restuccia said. “The teachers aren’t going to let you slack off at all. ... It’s definitely paid off, all the hard work in the classroom.”
Roache said he’s talked with coaches at Gannon University and the University of Tennessee at Martin, but he doesn’t currently have any scholarship offers.
Restuccia said he’s had serious talks with Northwood University, in West Palm Beach, but still doesn't have an offer.
Hawk said he’s been exchanging emails with coaches and schools, but is also waiting on his first scholarship offer.
By the numbers: 2011 stats
Zach Hawk (5’9’’ 190lbs), C: .396 batting average, 19 hits, 13 runs batted in, three doubles, one home run, 10 walks and a .517 on-base percentage.
Nick Restuccia (6’2” 185lbs), 1B/OF: .408 batting average, 17 runs, 31 hits, 24 runs batted in, two triples, .451 on-base percentage and 5-for-5 on stolen bases.
Tommy Roache (6’1” 160 lbs), CF/P: .300 batting average, 15 runs, 22 hits, 4 runs batted in, five doubles, one triple, seven walks, .384 on-base percentage , 9-for-10 on stolen bases and a 1.000 fielding percentage.
