MaxPreps Florida Team of the Week: Clearwater Central Catholic baseball

When you're 21-0, everything works.

Just ask Clearwater Central Catholic baseball coach Todd Vaughan, whose team has opened the season with 21 straight wins, outscored opponents 200-34, compiled a .339 team batting average, stolen 79 bases, made just 20 errors and sported a 1.01 team ERA thus far.

For all their excellence, the Marauders are the MaxPreps Florida Team of the Week, presented by the Florida National Guard.

Central Catholic has picked up from last season's 27-5 record and state semifinal finish.

"We really have not done anything different," Vaughan said. "We always stress a team concept and ask players to support each other. We also ask the players to challenge themselves both physically and mentally to be able to honestly say they put forth their best effort today."

It helps to have a player like Brenden Overton in the middle of your lineup. Overton is hitting .520 with team highs of seven home runs and 30 RBIs.

"Brenden sits in the middle of our lineup and has for the last two years," Vaughan said. "He works good at-bats and is a good clutch hitter. It is always a good feeling when we have runners on and Brenden is coming up."

The Marauders have plenty of other big bats, including Nicholas Dohse (.304), Zuriel Collins (.409), Tyler Simmons (.320), Derek Gibree (.328), David Paul (.327) and Andrew Mink II (.350).

On the mound a pair of standouts, David Paul (7-0, 0.95) and Jeffrey Smith (6-0, 2.59), have led the way.

"David is an outstanding competitor," Vaughan said. "And has been our ace since he was a sophomore. He wants the ball in big games and against good competition."

The Marauders have speed up and down the lineup, led by Britton Araujo with 14 steals, followed by Smith with 12 and Collins with 10. Dohse has nine steals and Gibree and Overton have eight apiece.

With all those ingredients, there's no reason to think Clearwater Central Catholic can't win its first state title since 2007. Its also won state crowns in 2002, 1979 and 1971.

Vaughan has been the head coach for the last 25 years and is very close to nabbing his 500th win. Since 2008, the team has gone 27-4, 12-14, 15-8, 19-11, 11-15 and 27-5 last year. Vaughan isn't counting another state crown out, but he certainly doesn't bring it up every day either.

"We treat each game with the respect that it deserves and just try to do our best and improve," he said. "Our ultimate goal, like everyone else, is to win a state title."

MaxPreps editorial assistant Kirstin Beal contributed to this report.

Do you know a team that deserves consideration for Florida Team of the Week? Email us with your nominations at FLteamoftheweek@maxpreps.com.