Gulf baseball coach's 100th victory is unlike any of the previous 99

NEW PORT RICHEY - The radiance of Shaun Wiemer's smile shone through the euphoric huddle of players whooping, yelping and ruffling his hair.

Only 90 or so minutes before, he had felt like pulling it out.

Gulf's sixth-year baseball coach spanned the emotional gamut Tuesday night during his 100th career victory. He could observe a thousand victories and perhaps never again witness a triumph so bizarre.

Or uplifting.

"I knew we had a chance tonight," he said.

Someday, when he blows the dust off his 2006 scorebook to reflect on this 11-5 upset of Pasco, the timely home runs by Brandon Decker and Weston Revak - not to mention Richie Ardizzone's crucial middle relief work - will leap off the page.

But what he'd really like to laminate is the faith and resilience he and his assemblage of youngsters brandished against a club that had already won four games by the 10-run mercy rule.

Wiemer kept believing even after watching the Bucs spot Pasco (4-2) a four-run first-inning lead. Even after he was forced to pull ailing starter Kyle Trouton when the junior left-hander walked the only three batters he faced. Even after he went to his third pitcher of the night with no outs in the second inning.

The Bucs players believed, too.

Now, they believe they have something special transpiring in what initially figured to be a rebuilding year.

Gulf, which returned three players from last year's 14-13 club, is 5-3 overall and an astounding 4-1 in Class 4A-District 8.

Passion … And Some Pop

"These kids have just been playing with so much heart and passion," said Wiemer, now 100-145 in 10-plus seasons, including a five-year stint at Beauregard High in Opelika, Ala. "They're finally getting that passion that we've been trying to get in this program."

Tuesday's win wasn't the first indicator of that passion, just the most glaring.

Four nights earlier, the Bucs rallied from a 6-0, fifth-inning hole for a 14-6 win against Hudson. The night before that, Trouton tossed his first career no-hitter in a five-inning, 12-0 rout of Hernando.

Those wins, against struggling opposition, were significant steps for the Bucs.

Tuesday's was a significant statement. "We're young," said Decker, who retired nine of the 10 batters he faced to get the win in relief. "But we've still got heart and we're a strong team."

Detecting A Pulse … And A Rally

Wiemer gauged that heart rate early on Tuesday with a bold dugout prophecy.

With the Bucs still trailing 4-2 entering the fourth, he told them they would win.

They had weathered their early mound adversity, thanks mainly to Decker's first-inning two-run homer and solid relief by Ardizzone. Summoned to spell Chris Kaeler, who had spelled Trouton (arm tenderness), Ardizzone survived a one-out bases-loaded jam in the second by striking out cleanup hitter Zach Maggard and forcing Stephen Roe to ground out to first.

"Let's face it, that's one of their best clubs ever," Wiemer said. "You spot a team four runs, and your ace gets knocked out of the game, and you're within striking distance in the fourth at home - I knew we had a shot."

Belief converged with opportunity in the fifth, when the Bucs drew four consecutive walks to open the inning. Three more runs came home on a pair of errors before Revak took a 3-1 Roe pitch over the center-field fence to give Gulf an 8-5 lead.

Decker, who needed Aleve before the game to combat his own arm soreness, then worked 2 2/3 flawless innings of relief.

"[In the past] we'd get down and fall apart," he said, "but we stuck together like we've been doing this year and came out with a win."

A win ideally suited for Wiemer's scrapbook.

These Bucs, after all, are writing the book on scrappiness.