2015 Perfect Game High School Preview Index
No. 5 Park Vista Cobras (Lake Worth, Fla.)
State Association/League: Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Class 8A/8A District 10
Head Coach: Larry Greenstein (11th season as head coach)
2014 Results: 26-4 overall record; 9-0 District 10 Champions; FHSAA Class 8A Semifinals
Key Losses: C/OF Tyler Barre; RHP Bruce Bechtel; OF Joey Innacone
Top Returning Players: Sr. RHP/1B Austin Smith (Florida Atlantic); Sr. SS/UTL Matthew Mika (Central Florida); Sr. 2B/RHP Dakota Julylia (Jacksonville); Sr. C/1B Joe Genord (South Florida); Sr. C/OF Tyler Huggins (Palm Beach State)
Notable Matchups: Feb. 10 at Taravella; March 17 vs. Gulf Coast; April 6 at American Heritage; April 10 at Coral Springs
THERE JUST NEVER SEEMS TO BE ENOUGH HOURS IN THE DAY for the head coach of a high school program that in the eyes of many has a legitimate shot at winning a Perfect Game National High School Championship this spring.
So it was with Larry Greenstein, the 11th-year head coach at Park Vista High School in Lake Worth, Fla., when he spoke with Perfect Game last week while trying to prepare his talented team for its Feb. 10 season-opener at Taravella in Coral Springs. Not only was Greenstein trying to put the finishing touches on his ball club, he was also doing some finishing work on another project.
“I’ve been building a concession stand – I’ve been working on it for a year-and-a-half – and I’m down to the last week or two, trying to get everything done for the season,” a somewhat exasperated-sounding Greenstein told PG over the phone last week. “It’s been kind of nightmare but it’s almost done. I don’t have any hair but I did it would have been gone by now.”
At least Greenstein will have no reason to pull out whatever hair he has left on his head fretting about the product he puts on the field this spring. The 2015 Cobras have 14 seniors on their roster, and for they’re a group of guys who been playing together for years and have learned how to do a lot of winning along the way.
The Cobras won the FHSAA District 10 championship and reached the semifinal round of the FHSAA Class 8A state tournament in 2014 where they dropped a 1-0, eight-inning decision to eventual 8A state runner-up Valrico-Bloomingdale, finishing with a 26-4 record.
The trip to the final four gave the players a taste of what it’s like to play on a big stage – the FHSAA Class 8A state final four is played at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla. – and now they want to sample the entire pie.
“We tell our athletes and we tell our parents that we do expect the most out of them and they should expect the most out of our coaches,” Greenstein said. “We’ve got a great school that we’re at and every year our goal is to be playing for the state championship; that’s just the way it is.”
The high expectations are definitely out there. Today, the Park Vista Cobras debut in the No. 5 position of the 2015 Perfect Game Preseason National High School Top-50 Rankings.
“I’d be kidding myself if I said the expectations aren’t as high as they’ve ever been,” Greenstein said. “I’ve got a great group of athletes – they’re hard-workers, they’re very talented, they’re fun to be around – and 10 of them have already committed to or signed to play at college or junior college. That just doesn’t happen very often.
“What’s the old saying, ‘You want to keep up with the Joneses?’ Well, now we’re the Joneses. So yes, expectations are high and I think they should be every year.”
If Park Vista doesn’t exactly fit in with the Jones it definitely fits in with the Smith’s. Or, more specifically, the school has been a great fit for superb, 6-foot-4, 215-pound right-handed pitcher/outfielder/first baseman Austin Smith, a 2014 PG All-American from Boynton Beach.
Smith, who delivered a 96 mph fastball during play at the PG All-American Classic last August at San Diego’s Petco Park and has signed with Florida Atlantic, is the No. 11 overall national prospect in the class of 2015, meaning it is likely he will be a first-round pick at June’s MLB amateur draft.
As a junior at Park Vista in 2014, Smith went 12-1 with a 0.36 ERA, throwing five complete games and allowing only four earned runs in 77 2/3 innings while striking out 96. He also hit .425 with a .509 on-base percentage and drove in 20 runs; he was named the Florida big-school player of the year by both the Sun Sentinel and the Palm Beach Post newspapers.
“Obviously, Austin is a special kid,” Greenstein said. “He’s a great athlete (and) there’s nothing he can’t do on the field. He’ll play the outfield, he might play some first (base); he’s a really good hitter – big RBI guy, big clutch guy – and he was one of our big offensive weapons last year.
“What he does on the mound is impressive, to say the least, and he brings a lot of dimension to the team with his athletic ability.”
Greenstein said he’s talked to his team about what Smith’s presence is going to mean to the program this spring. He told them they should expect as many as 30 or 40 MLB scouts to be in attendance when Smith pitches, which will provide opportunities for them, as well.
“I told them to just be yourself, play like you’re capable of playing and try not to be distracted by all of that,” Greenstein said. “You guys are good ballplayers and play like you’re capable of playing and don’t try to do any more than that.”
The cast of characters surrounding Smith is impressive in itself, a group that includes shortstop Matthew Mika, second baseman/right-hander Dakota Julylia, catcher/outfielder Tyler Huggins and catcher/first baseman Joey Genord. All were among the Cobras’ leading hitters in 2014.
Mika, a Central Florida signee from Lake Worth, stands out. Listed by PG at 5-foot-10 and 175-pounds, Mika hit .435 with a .540 on-base percentage and stole an eye-popping 48 bases for the Cobras last spring.
He was named to the all-tournament team at four Perfect Game WWBA and BCS events this past summer while playing with the Orlando Scorpions and, like Smith, was named to the Top Prospect Team at the PG National Showcase.
“I’ve had a lot of good (shortstops) and he’s as good as any,” Greenfield said. “I always call him our ‘Web Gem-making machine’ and it never ceases to amaze me.”
Greenstein said that there’s a park that lies right behind the Park Vista HS school building and that’s where the Cobras’ playing field is. A little league field lies just beyond the high school field, and that’s where most of his current players got their start.
Ben Greenstein, the coach’s son, is a senior on the team which means Larry Greenstein has known a lot of these kids their entire lives. They had sleepovers when they were very young and became very close-knit, even as they split up to play on separate summertime travel ball teams like the Orlando Scorpions, Easton Rockets and Palm Beach Select.
“It’s probably unusual nowadays – unless they’re living out in the country – to get a group of kids that have been around each other for a long time,” Greenstein said. “It’s almost like a hometown feel without being in a small town.”
This is a team that, according to Coach Greenstein, is as strong “on paper” as any high school program in the country. But now it is time for his players to toss that piece of paper in the trash and get their hands – and uniforms – dirty while taking care of business out on the field. It’s all about meeting those high expectations.
“Our expectation is to put our best foot forward every day,” he said. “There’s going to be times when maybe they’re not going to be feeling the greatest but these guys have been together and they need to pick each other up. When you’re out here for those two hours and if you lose, don’t let it because you aren’t giving it 110 percent.
“Wins and losses, they’ll take care of themselves. Just give it everything you’ve got for those two hours and that will help to take care of a lot of business.”
Of course, Greenstein has one more piece of unfinished business: that doggone concession stand that parents and boosters have been waiting for, and not always patiently.
“Isn’t that crazy,” he said right before getting off the phone. “With everything else I have going on, I have to be worried about that being ready to go in a week-and-a-half.”
Just one more piece in a program that could add up to being a pretty special 2015 season.