BRADENTON — This is a story of one band of Pirates helping another band of Pirates.
And some Tigers, too.
The ever-growing rivalry between Braden River and Palmetto gathers more steam at 7 p.m. tonight when the schools’ baseball teams meet at McKechnie Field.
The timing couldn’t have been better — the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have been McKechnie’s spring tenants since 1969, wrapped up their spring-training schedule last week, making the venerable ballpark available for tonight’s Class 4A-District 10 game.
Ryan Hilton, Braden River’s baseball coach, mentioned the idea to Trevor Gooby, the Pirates’ director of Florida operations, when McKechnie played host to the Jody Friedman tournament in February.
Not only were the Pittsburgh Pirates receptive to the idea, but they told Braden River — which was slated to host the game — to keep the entire gate.
“They’ve been very accommodating,” Hilton said. “Hopefully, being at the stadium will encourage more people to come out and watch us play.”
Playing Palmetto should help — the schools aren’t just country rivals, but district foes, as well. Playing under the lights at McKechnie Field will add even more juice.
“Sure it does,” said Palmetto coach Joe Collis. “There’s nothing bigger than a district game, and it’s going to be fun.”
Braden River won its first district championship last season, and have taken steps toward repeating.
The Pirates are 10-0 in district play (17-2 overall) this season, and clinched the tournament’s top seed Tuesday when they beat Sebring.
Palmetto is 13-5 and 6-4 in its first season under Collis.
“They’re the best,” Collis said.
Gooby has said the Pirates are striving to make McKechnie — which added lights prior to last spring — more of a year-round community asset.
In the eyes of Collis and Hilton, this is another step in that direction.
“The Pirates have done a great job of reaching out and giving us the opportunity to play,” Hilton said. “It should be a big boost to Manatee County. Hopefully, we can say it’s something that’s going to happen on an annual basis.”
Neither team would be averse to that.
“I’m excited for the boys,” Collis said. “It’s will be exciting — especially for the seniors, giving them a chance to play on a field like that before they leave.”
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