Florida Four a reality; can it become a hit?

Posted Mar 2, 2010 by Scott Carter

Updated Mar 2, 2010 at 12:35 AM

Before the ink was even dry on his new contract, Lelo Prado envisioned what he wanted to accomplish at USF when he took over the Bulls in the summer of 2006.

Prado’s list included winning a Big East title and leading USF to its first appearance in the College World Series. Those two remain future targets.

But on Tuesday afternoon at Steinbrenner Field, Prado can finally cross one of his primary goals off that list: a doubleheader featuring USF, Miami, Florida and Florida State.

The first pitch of the inaugural Florida Four Baseball Classic is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. when USF faces Miami in the first game. Florida faces FSU in the second game.

“I am just so glad that it is happening,’’ Prado said last week on a conference call with the other coaches. “I really appreciate the other three universities coming down. I know it is big time to take away from their home dates, but I think all of them recruit in this area and it will be great for college baseball and all four universities.’’

Tampa Bay and Yankees officials are working to make the Florida Four an annual event showcasing college baseball in a state and area loaded with some of the most talented players in the nation.

“[This event] is something we have been working on for a long time,’’ said Howard Grosswirth, vice president of marketing for the Yankees.

In the football-crazed state we live in, Tuesday is at least one day when college baseball is the main event.

Miami, FSU and Florida have a combined 47 CWS appearances between them, including two seasons (1996 and 1998) when all three programs made it to Omaha. In 1999, Miami defeated FSU in an all-Florida title game.

Miami has won four national titles, while FSU has finished runner-up three times, and Florida once. All three schools enter today’s event ranked in the Top 25 of Baseball America’s national poll: Florida No. 5, FSU No. 6, and Miami No. 16.

The obvious question is this: What took so long to make the event a reality?

“I think it is just a situation [where] people want to learn their team as best they can without jumping in and playing a club of the caliber that the state of Florida produces,’’ FSU coach Mike Martin said. “There are a lot of teams that don’t play early season games against state schools, so this is exciting now for us to be in a tournament where we are going down and playing one game.

“I think it will do a world of good for all of us.”

Besides the high level of competition on the field, the programs expect to benefit in recruiting from the extra exposure in one of the state’s most talent-rich areas.

“It is a great area for baseball,’’ Miami coach Jim Morris said.

The Yankees’ involvement in the event doesn’t hurt, either.

Tampa resident and Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has been a long-time supporter of the state and local sports scene. The Yankees worked closely with the Tampa Bay Sports Commission to put the event together.

“We have an awful lot of Yankees fans on our team, so I know they are awfully excited to play down there,’’ Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.

“The vision starting a couple of years ago was to build an event where we would showcase four of the top teams not only in the state, but also in the country,’’ Tampa Bay Sports Commission executive director Rob Higgins said. “To be able to have it in our community could not be more special. We are looking forward to what will hopefully be a special day of baseball.”

Win or lose, Prado will probably have the biggest smile in the stadium on Tuesday.

Reporter Scott Carter can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or (813) 259-7928.