PALM BAY, Fla. – Heritage High baseball coach is making a bet with players that if they win 14 games, he'll let them name his kid, News 6 partner Florida Today reported.
The Panthers head coach Rob Querry's wife, Julia Querry, sent their 4-year-old Brady onto the field after a Heritage High baseball game last week to hand a blue baseball inscribed with "It's a Boy" to her husband, announcing the gender of their expected baby.
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Querry decided to give his team more motivation to win now with him placing a bet stating, "If we win 14 games, I'll let you name my kid."
Although it's not a likely winning bet for the team, that is known to rarely win more than half its games, his wife is also rooting for the team.
"She would come to practice and rub her stomach and say things like 'Five more wins, guys,' and I told her she probably shouldn't do that," Querry said to Florida Today.
Perhaps the excitement of the newborn is getting the team moving. "Last week, they won Palm Bay's spring break tournament. Heritage already had encouragement from a win against perennial playoff team Melbourne and a one-run loss to Viera, ranked third in the state last week in Class 7A," Florida Today reported.
They attributed their turn-around success to their pitching rate, and pitching coach Corey Kelvin, along with off-season workouts that included flipping tires and other CrossFit-inspired moves, Florida Today reported.
"Coach Kevlin's had a great impact on our pitching," said Christian Grubb, a senior starter, to Florida Today. Christian Grubb , "The workouts gave us that endurance to push through the season."
The Panthers already have a name picked out.
"We have decided to name him Benjamin Smalls Querry," said senior Joe Nelm to Florida Today.
The name combines the names of two characters in one of the group's favorite baseball movies, "The Sandlot." In the film, lead character Scotty Smalls shows the boys on his neighborhood team a ball signed by Babe Ruth. The most talented player is Benjamin Rodriguez.