Countryside defender Rachel Preble orally committed to play college soccer at Division I-A Maine Thursday morning. On a roster made up primarily of players from Maine and Ontario, Preble will become, according to the coaches, the first Floridian to play for the Black Bears. Preble, a rising senior, had eight ...
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Thu. May 23, 2013 at 4:55 p.m. | John C. Cotey
Riverview senior Chase McCoy, a 100-meter dash medalist and 200 qualifier at the recent Class 4A state track meet, signed Monday with NCAA Division II power Central Missouri. McCoy joins a Mules program that has won 16 Mid-America Athletic Association indoor titles and and 11 MIAA outdoor titles in the ...
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Thu. May 23, 2013 at 1:50 p.m. | Joey Knight
East Lake second baseman Doug Rovello has committed to play at Fairmont State University in West Virginia. Rovello, who missed his junior year due to injury, hit .328 with 15 stolen bases this season for East Lake as the No. 2 hitter. He emerged as a team leader on a ...
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Thu. May 23, 2013 at 11:42 a.m. | Rodney Page
Nature Coast OL Christian Pellage landed his first college offer Thursday morning, after Virginia extended him a scholarship, Sharks coach Charles Liggett announced. Pellage was listed at 6-foot-7, 215 pounds as a sophomore but has bulked up considerably heading into NCT’s spring game against Tarpon Springs on Friday. After practice ...
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Thu. May 23, 2013 at 9:38 a.m. | Matt Baker
River Ridge honored seven football players who will continue their careers in a ceremony Wednesday afternoon. QB Josh Maisel, WR George Cordova, WR/DB Chris Aldrich and TE/DE Zack Harris are all headed to LaGrange University. OL/DL Hayden Krautner, RB Justin Haystrand and WR/DB David Bond all signed with Peru State.
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Wed. May 22, 2013 at 2:17 p.m. | Matt Baker
Rounding up some of the latest football offers from the North Suncoast: • Pasco WR Nate Craig - one of the country’s top 2016 prospects - has landed two more recent SEC offers, from Ole Miss and Kentucky. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound receiver/safety also holds SEC offers from Florida, Tennessee, Vanderbilt ...
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Wed. May 22, 2013 at 11:49 a.m. | Matt Baker
Some football (and cheerleading!) recruiting updates from the North Suncoast: • Zephyrhills MLB Tylar Hochstetler signed with Massachusetts Maritime Academy this week. The 5-foot-6, 170-pound Hochstetler earned second-team all-conference honors by recording 57 tackles and seven sacks for the 6-4 Bulldogs. • Anclote lineman Terry Linton signed with Kentucky Wesleyan ...
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Wed. May 22, 2013 at 11:34 a.m. | Matt Baker
Two baseball recruiting updates from the North Suncoast: Mitchell RHP Chris McCormick signed with PHCC last week. The 6-1, 175-pound senior posted a 2.23 ERA with 71 strikeouts on the mound and batted .307 with nine doubles to help the Mustangs reach the Class 6A region final. He starred in ...
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Wed. May 22, 2013 at 10:07 a.m. | Matt Baker
Pinellas Park defensive back Pierre Johnson picked up his first offer from Wofford College, Patriots coach Kenny Crawford said. Johnson, a first-team, all-county selection last fall, has a 3.98 weighted GPA and scored 23 on the ACT. He has received interest from multiple schools this spring but no offer surfaced ...
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Tue. May 21, 2013 at 10:48 a.m. | Bob Putnam
Three quick recruiting updates from across the North Suncoast from the past few days: Miami became the 13th offer for Nature Coast DE Rohan Blackwood, Sharks coach Charles Liggett announced on Twitter. The two-sport (football and basketball) star also holds offers from USF and West Virginia, among others. The Hurricanes ...
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Mon. May 20, 2013 at 5:26 p.m. | Matt Baker
DADE CITY — An Ohio State assistant coach was sitting in a Tampa barbershop this spring, raving about a high school freshman who had just landed a Buckeyes offer. That’s when Unsigned Preps 7-on-7 coach Carlos Blake asked if he wanted to see a real ninth grader. Blake whipped out ...
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Sat. May 18, 2013 at 10:13 p.m. | Matt Baker
Academy at the Lakes forward Andrea Mauger officially signed with Division III Franklin & Marshall College (Pa.). The Tampa Bay Times' all-North Suncoast first-teamer, who also played on the softball team, averaged almost 18 points for the Wildcats, who advanced to the Class 2A state final last winter. Mauger also ...
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Fri. May 17, 2013 at 3:32 p.m. | Times Staff
Wharton low-post reserve Drew Vanderbrook signed Thursday with Indian River State College, a two-year program in Fort Pierce. A 6-foot-8 Freedom transfer, Vanderbrook said he chose IRSC over a handful of other junior colleges and Division III programs. He becomes the second member of Wharton's Class 8A final four team ...
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Thu. May 16, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. | Joey Knight
Nate Craig, Pasco WR (6-3, 200) The latest: One of the state's top freshmen has landed offers from all of the state’s top three programs this week. Miami became the last of the big three to offer Craig a scholarship, Pirates assistant Chad Hatfield announced on Twitter. Later in the ...
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Thu. May 16, 2013 at 2:46 p.m. | Matt Baker
Durant senior ace Paige Davis, who helped lead the "Cardiac Cougars" to the Class 8A state title in 2012, formally signed her paperwork Wednesday with South Florida State College, a two-year program in Avon Park. The Tampa Bay Times' All-Suncoast Pitcher of the Year in '12, Davis leaned more on ...
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Thu. May 16, 2013 at 8:46 a.m. | Joey Knight
At Armwood Scores: Plant City 23, Durant 0 Armwood 34, Strawberry Crest 0 Spring game-breakers: Despite a bland scheme that featured three total blitzes, Plant City sacked Cougars rising senior Trey VanDeGrift at least four times and nearly held the Cougars to negative rushing yardage. … Raiders rising junior DB ...
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Thu. May 23, 2013 at 10:40 p.m. | Joey Knight
At Clearwater Central Catholic Score: Clearwater Central Catholic 21, Lakeland Victory Christian 6 Spring game-breakers: CCC could have a quarterback battle this summer between Jeff Smith and Blake Gomez. Both played well Thursday and led scoring drives. Smith, a dual-threat quarterback, threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Steve Pasquali. Gomez, ...
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Thu. May 23, 2013 at 9:22 p.m. | Bob Putnam
By the midway mark of nearly every race this season, Gibbs’ Trayvon Bromell has taken command, leaving opponents behind in the most romanticized track and field event, the 100 meters. But Bromell did not ease off. In each race, he accelerated smoothly and ruthlessly, never letting up until he was ...
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Thu. May 23, 2013 at 5:03 p.m. | Bob Putnam
The most successful athletic season in Freedom High's 11-year history culminated Thursday morning with the Patriots being presented the Vernon Korhn Award as Hillsborough County's top public school program. The presentation, at the county school district's spring sports awards ceremony at its downtown Tampa headquarters, came two weeks to the ...
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Thu. May 23, 2013 at 11:56 a.m. | Joey Knight
FORT MYERS — The breakthrough seemed only a run away, especially after Daniel Portales delivered the tying single in the bottom of the fourth. Then Jesuit failed to score with the bases loaded. It happened again with runners at first and third base in the bottom of the fifth. In ...
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Wed. May 22, 2013 at 11:53 p.m. | Joel Anderson
At Steinbrenner Scores: Steinbrenner 22, Alonso 21 Sickles 22, Gaither 14 Spring game-breakers: Kezio Snelling was the star for Steinbrenner, scoring all three touchdowns on a pair of kickoff returns (75 and 80 yards) and a 13-yard run. His 80-yarder came with 33.7 seconds left and Shyheem Barthel’s two-point conversion ...
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Thu. May 23, 2013 at 10:22 p.m. | Don Jensen
At Newsome Scores: Bloomingdale 13, Brandon 13; Tampa Cath. 12, Newsome 0 Spring game-breakers: Bloomingdale was able to overcome a 13-point deficit thanks to quarterback Tommy McLaughlin, who completed 11 of 16 for 160 yards. McLaughlin scored the team’s first touchdown on a 10-yard run. …Lineman Darren Lester made the ...
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Thu. May 23, 2013 at 10:10 p.m. | David Rice
With more than 70 players at practice, St. Petersburg has one of the biggest groups in the area this spring. • But injuries have taken their toll on the Green Devils’ depth the past two weeks. • “When you have a few injuries it’s kind of hard to get any ...
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Wed. May 22, 2013 at 9:49 p.m. | Times Staff
As first-year Wesley Chapel coach Tico Hernandez tries to get his 35 players to buy into his philosophies, he’s making the Wildcats earn their stripes. • “So many times with kids, everything’s given to them,” said Hernandez, who took over after Ben Alford resigned. • “That’s not the way the ...
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Wed. May 22, 2013 at 7:53 p.m. | Matt Baker
Seminole ended its month-long search for a football coach Wednesday, hiring former Admiral Farragut coach Chris Miller. Miller becomes just the fourth coach in Seminole’s 52-year history. He replaces Sam Roper, who retired from coaching in April after 28 seasons. "Chris was the top choice among everyone on the committee," ...
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Wed. May 22, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. | Bob Putnam
The first four-year class at Steinbrenner laid a solid foundation, going 20-19-1 and securing the rare winning record for a fledgling high school football program. • Now, minus 27 graduated seniors, second-year Warriors coach Andres Perez-Reinaldo plans to build on that foundation in the fall. “This is really an opportunity ...
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Tue. May 21, 2013 at 9:15 p.m. | Times Staff
DUNEDIN In three years of crushing heads, Dunedin’s Brenton Allen has followed a remarkably ascendent career path. • Since becoming a starting middle linebacker, he has developed into the Falcons’ most important defensive presence, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound bruiser with the tiptoe finesse of a ballerina. Allen can stop the run ...
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Tue. May 21, 2013 at 8:10 p.m. | Times Staff
HUDSON For the past two seasons, Fivay’s passing game has been the backbone of one of the most dangerous offensive attacks on the North Suncoast. • With the graduation of the Falcons’ entire receiving corps this spring, including Andrew Meyer (42 catches, 1,028 yards, 12 touchdowns), Willis Reeves (10 catches, ...
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Tue. May 21, 2013 at 1:53 p.m. | Derek J. LaRiviere
When Armwood’s first-team defense completed its goal-line stand with a fourth-and-2 stop to conclude Friday evening’s intrasquad scrimmage, rising junior defensive end Byron Cowart was lined up at nose guard. Cowart (6-foot-5, 250 pounds), shaping up as the area’s top recruit from the Class of 2015, said he’s hopeful of ...
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Mon. May 20, 2013 at 11:13 p.m. | Joey Knight
At Bishop McLaughlin Score: Carrollwood Day 41, Bishop McLaughlin 7 Spring game-breakers: CDS’ run game seems to have picked up where it left off in 2012, just sans Robert Davis. Rising junior Elias Earley popped a 33-yarder on the first play from scrimmage and finished with 160 yards on 12 ...
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Sat. May 18, 2013 at 11:01 p.m. | Andy Warrener
At St. Petersburg Catholic Score: St. Petersburg Catholic 42, Indian Rocks Christian 14 Spring game-breakers: Relying on a big, veteran offensive line, St. Petersburg Catholic rolled up big yards on the ground Friday, rushing for 322 yards. The benefactors were Jaquan Fuller and Tony Jones, who each rushed for 100 ...
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Fri. May 17, 2013 at 11:24 p.m. | Bob Putnam
At Northside Christian Score: Northside Christian 17, Sarasota Out-of-Door 13 Spring game-breakers: Northside Christian coach Mike Alstott has said this fall’s running game will be by committee. If Friday night was any indication, he has a pretty good committee. Senior Jhon Williams gained 50 yards on nine carries and scored ...
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Fri. May 17, 2013 at 11:23 p.m. | Rodney Page
SHADY HILLS One of the North Suncoast’s top returning quarterbacks may not be familiar to those outside of Bishop McLaughlin. • Rising senior R.J. Perciavalle is going into his third season as the starter under center and even saw some looks at quarterback as a freshman. • As a sophomore, ...
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Fri. May 17, 2013 at 8:56 p.m. | Derek J. LaRiviere
The stretching and special teams work have concluded Friday afternoon at Brandon’s practice when a late arrival, Mario Rodriguez, jogs onto the McLane Stadium field in full pads and presents a signed index card to coach Dean Eychner. “Tutoring?” Eychner asks, gazing at the card with the teacher’s signature. “Uh, ...
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Fri. May 17, 2013 at 8:31 p.m. | Joey Knight
For the past week, Clearwater Central Catholic has worked out in limbo, unsure which football team it will play in its spring game. On Friday, the Marauders found an opponent. CCC coach John Davis said his team will play Lakeland Victory Christian at 3 p.m. Thursday. The game, originally set ...
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Fri. May 17, 2013 at 1:12 p.m. | Bob Putnam
photo gallery FORT MYERS — Every one of Jim Macaluso’s 38 years at King has ended without a state championship. Most, in fact, ended in the district tournament and more than a dozen came to a close in regionals. Only three times in Macaluso’s storied career have the Lions come ...
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Wed. May 22, 2013 at 7:01 p.m. | Joel Anderson
TAMPA — That powerful right arm has almost always dazzled coaches and scouts, from those toddler T-ball leagues to high school all-star showcases. To most everyone else, it seemed a certainty Brett Morales would someday use that arm to become a starting quarterback for a high school football team or ...
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Tue. May 21, 2013 at 8:37 p.m. | Joel Anderson
Tom Shaneyfelt's name has become synonymous with girls basketball. He has led Clearwater’s program to eight state final four appearances, and four runnerup finishes. His 650 wins rank in the top 20 in the state among boys or girls coaches. Now Shaneyfelt wants to give boys basketball a shot at ...
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Tue. May 21, 2013 at 2:11 p.m. | Bob Putnam
Cambridge Christian, which has won three region championships in the past six years, announced Tuesday its hiring of Sam Blackmon as head coach after the recent resignation of Sam Marsonek. Blackmon most recently coached at East Texas Baptist University, an NCAA Division III school, from 2006-12. He was head coach ...
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Tue. May 21, 2013 at 12:35 p.m. | Joel Anderson
FORT MYERS — Despite passing the 100-pitch threshold, David Paul still felt good. He had bulldogged his way through seven innings of Monday’s Class 3A state baseball semifinal. Struggled with his control at times. Worked into trouble, then right out of it. Through seven innings, he had stranded seven and ...
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Mon. May 20, 2013 at 5:50 p.m. | John C. Cotey
TAMPA — His fourth voyage to the precipice of prep baseball immortality seems mildly different than the previous three. Spencer Trayner believes it’s due to the collection of passengers making this latest May sojourn. The Jesuit senior calls it “the grittiest, scrappiest team yet so far that I’ve been a ...
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Mon. May 20, 2013 at 5:32 p.m. | Joey Knight
FORT MYERS — As the innings dragged on in Monday’s Class 3A state semifinal between Jacksonville Providence and Clearwater Central Catholic, it became apparent one swing would decide the outcome. CCC’s David Paul and Providence’s Brooks Lockett looked like the aces they have been all season. And when both pitchers ...
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Mon. May 20, 2013 at 4:29 p.m. | Rodney Page
Orlando Edgewater High on Monday refuted Springstead’s allegations of poor sportsmanship in the teams’ region baseball final. In a conference call with the Tampa Bay Times on Saturday, Springstead officials accused Edgewater of making no attempt to protect the field during a brief rainstorm in their Class 6A region final ...
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Mon. May 20, 2013 at 11:25 a.m. | Times Staff
photo gallery FORT MYERS — Down to a final out, trailing by five runs, the reality of the situation finally rushed over Tyler Danish. He fought back the tears, stepped into the batter’s box and gave a few futile swings. It was one of those rare moments this season when ...
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Sat. May 18, 2013 at 11:32 p.m. | Joel Anderson
The Lakewood track trio of Shaquem and Shaquill Griffin and Tim Holmes added Gibbs’ Trayvon Bromell to form an all-star 4x100-meter relay at the Golden South meet. The foursome ran past an impressive field to win the event in 40.29 seconds, the fastest time in the nation this year. Bromell ...
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Sat. May 18, 2013 at 9:29 p.m. | Bob Putnam
Springstead’s baseball team didn’t go down without one last fight this season. A week after a controversial 6-5 loss at Orlando Edgewater in a Class 6A region final — in which the game was called after five innings due to poor field conditions and darkness — the Florida High School ...
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Sat. May 18, 2013 at 5:16 p.m. | Times Staff
Gibbs sprinter Trayvon Bromell grew up with Lakewood’s Shaquill and Shaquem Griffin and Tim Holmes. They ran track for the same club teams, separated geographically by zones once they reached high school. Now they are back together, forming a 4x100 relay team that will be the envy of others when ...
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Fri. May 17, 2013 at 8:18 p.m. | Bob Putnam
photo gallery FORT MYERS — Those scouting reports revealed only so much. Phoning up coaching friends elicited all of the predictable acclaim. And the statistics — essentially, lots of zeroes — only confirmed the extent of the challenge. But within a few innings Friday, Hialeah American coach Ricky Gutierrez came ...
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Fri. May 17, 2013 at 4:36 p.m. | Joel Anderson
photo gallery FORT MYERS — Hialeah American coach Ricky Gutierrez was right about a few things Friday. Yes, Durant pitcher Tyler Danish is a freak and something special. And indeed, Danish is Superman. And I suppose the Patriot coach was technically correct in saying Danish puts his pants on one ...
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Fri. May 17, 2013 at 3:48 p.m. | John C. Cotey
East Lake and Berkeley Prep have been named FHSAA Academic Team Champions for posting the best cumulative student-athlete grade point averages in their respective classifications for the 2012-13 school year. The academic team championship is determined over the course of the school year. The school with the highest cumulative team ...
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Fri. May 17, 2013 at 3:29 p.m. | Joey Knight