Plant High Standout to Receive Wade Boggs Achievement Award

Plant High School honor student and baseball standout, senior Pete Alonso has been hitting homeruns both on and off the field.

And his hard work will pay off Wednesday, May 15 when 12-time baseball All-Star Wade Boggs presents Alonso with the eighth annual Wade Boggs Athletic Achievement Award.

The awards ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. at the County Center, second-floor boardroom, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, during the regular Hillsborough County Commission meeting.

The award named in honor of the former Tampa Bay Devil Rays player, was established by the Hillsborough County Commission in 2005 to recognize the outstanding athletic and scholastic achievements of a high school baseball player or team.

Alonso carries a grade point average of 4.06, and has consistently maintained honor roll status throughout high school. He is a member of the National Honor Society and a recipient of Florida’s Bright Futures Scholarship. He also has logged numerous community service hours feeding the homeless at Metropolitan Ministries, teaching baseball fundamentals at youth baseball camps and mentoring students on bullying, peer pressure and substance abuse.

On the field, Alonso serves as team captain and led all public school hitters this year with a .829 slugging percentage, seven home runs and first in the county with nine doubles. Before transferring to Plant before his junior year, Alonso played at Jesuit High School, where he holds the school records for 54 hits and 53 RBIs in a season.

He has won numerous awards for his athletic achievements in baseball, including being named to the 2013 Rawlings 1st Team All Region Team and 2nd Team All-American. 

Alonso has signed a National Letter of Intent and has received a baseball scholarship to attend school and play baseball at the University of Florida. His dream is to one day play Major League Baseball.

Oscar Mercado from Gaither High School and Brett Morales from C. Leon King High School also will be recognized with honorable mention awards.

Do you know an athlete who has received an honor? Post word of it for free in the South Tampa Patch announcements.

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