Small Palmetto Ridge baseball roster making big FHSAA playoff waves

TL;DR

Palmetto Ridge baseball team, with just 14 players, achieved a historic FHSAA playoff win against Mariner, 5-4. They are now two victories away from the regional final, defying expectations after a middle-of-the-pack regular season.

Key points

Palmetto Ridge baseball team has 14 players
They won their first FHSAA regional playoff game
Greg Carrasco pitched a complete game
The team is now two wins away from the regional final
Coach Connor Perry emphasizes teamwork and belief

Palmetto Ridge BearsFHSAAGreg Carrasco

A high school baseball team sporting a limited roster of 14 players doesn't suggest a postseason breakthrough is on the horizon.

Neither did a regular season that hovered around the middle of the local pack.

But the Palmetto Ridge baseball team has flipped those narratives in a matter of weeks.

Riding another complete-game performance from Greg Carrasco — his second in as many high-stakes games — the Class 5A-Region 3 sixth-seeded Bears outlasted No. 3 seed Mariner 5-4 for the program's first FHSAA regional playoff win Friday, April 24, putting them two wins away from a regional final that once seemed unrealistic.

"We believe no matter whether you're the six hitter, you're the nine hitter, whatever it is," Palmetto Ridge coach Connor Perry said. "We're believing in you. It's just special, man. It's special to watch these kids come out. My biggest goal in a program is to take a group of kids and allow them to become a team. Wins will come, but allowing them to become a team, we're a team right now. We're playing some good baseball at a high level, and hopefully we can keep it going."

Perry took over Palmetto Ridge during the middle of last season, getting the program up to .500 at 11-11. This year's been much different, with the group fighting hard to a 16-10 record. All but three of their losses have been by three runs or fewer. It's a sign, Perry believes, of a team that learned how to compete long before the wins followed.

Palmetto Ridge beat Mariner 5-4 in a Region 5A-3 baseball game on Friday, April 24, 2026.

"When I first entered this program, my first words to these guys were, 'We've got to do it, but it has to take a relentless belief,'" Perry said. "We have a hell week at the beginning of the year where we just try to mentally disturb our guys. It's just mental toughness and belief."

Carrasco has embodied that mindset as much as anyone.

The junior has emerged as a solid two-way player, pitching 59 2/3 innings with a 1.88 ERA, while hitting .299 with 20 hits. That includes delivering when it matters most. He held top-seed Gulf Coast at bay for a 4-3 District 5A-12 final win on April 17 and then allowed just one earned run in the win over the Tritons.