Student Athlete of the Week: Larry Street

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Bozeman baseball is on the road to a state championship.

How have they found this avenue of success? One of the answers is senior Larry Street.

“Larry’s awesome. He’s just such a leader, a team guy, fun to be around, a popular kid, just a hard-working guy. He has been a starter for us for three years. He’s kind of our rock, an anchor for us.” said Bozeman Head Baseball Coach, Jeff Patton.

Last year, Larry hit .347 with 21 RBIs, he also had a 1.85 era with 55 strikeouts. So this year’s plan kept him a dual threat until he hurt his arm in the off-season.

“Coming into the season, I was going to be one of our top guys on the mound,” Larry said. “Then I get hurt and I can only hit, so I have to change my focus to just hitting. It’s different, you know you’ve got to keep yourself in the game more when you’re in the dugout just about most of the time. So that’s kind of what I’ve been going through this season.”

That maturity and experience, both on the field and in the dugout has allowed Larry to grow the way he mentors.

“He leads by example, and if guys aren’t doing what they’re supposed to, he’s not afraid to comment. When he speaks, they listen.” Coach Patton said.

Larry also puts his focus into the classroom because he knows handling things inside, helps him handle things outside.

“Your academic stuff is just as important as being good at baseball. You know, you don’t want to be down in the classroom because you’ll be down here too. You don’t want to be stressing out over work, so if you get that done in class, you’re free to think about baseball when you’re here.”

“He gets it. Not all kids, heck, a lot of adults don’t get it. But he kind of gets it, he knows that you have to do these things to compete at that level and he’s mature enough to do it.”

Larry is heading to Kentucky Christian University next year to grace the diamond for at least another year. But if you ask Coach Patton or Larry himself, they seem to think it’ll be way longer than 1 season.

“Just the way he works. You know, he’s got natural ability, he’s big, he’s strong, you just look at him and go that’s what a ball player looks like. He’s not going to fold up, he’s going to work harder and I think the future is bright.” Patton said.

“Just because I’ve been successful here, I’ve been successful most of my career, so I’ve earned that,” Street said. “Obviously, the coaches believe in me to be good.”

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