Youth Sports Report:

Mustangs take seventh at ASA Nationals

Posted Aug 8, 2011 by Nick Williams

Updated Aug 8, 2011 at 02:29 PM

The Tampa Mustangs Bell 18-Under travel softball team placed seventh with a 4-2 record at the ASA Girls 18 and Under Gold National Championship in San Diego last week.

The tournament featured the top 64 travel teams in the nation.

Team Bell features several top players from the area, including former Jefferson pitcher/utility Reina Baluja, former Sickles outfielder Mya Anderson, Wharton’s Mo Santos, Durant’s Jordan LaFave, and Bell’s daughter and Chamberlain infielder Bianka Bell, Tampa Catholic’s Krista Garcia and Blaire Kelley, Bloomingdale’s Leah Pemberton and Plant’s Jessica Butler.

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Two area Little League teams qualify for semifinals in Region Play

Posted Aug 6, 2011 by Jarrett Guthrie

Updated Aug 6, 2011 at 08:06 PM

Two Tampa area Little League baseball teams are off to a hot start in region tournament play this weekend. New Tampa Little League and Palma Ceia Junior Baseball have both automatically qualified for the semifinals winning through the first two days of pool play.

New Tampa Little League Baseball

New Tampa Little League is playing in the Southeast Region in Warner Robins, Ga. and has a 2-0 record through the first two days of pool play. The Little League age group (also referred to as Majors) is players from ages 9-12 years of age. NTLL earned a 5-2 win against West Virginia on Friday and a 14-1 win against Virginia on Saturday.

Friday against Reston National, Virginia, NTLL got all it needed in the first inning starting with a leadoff triple from Aaron Guiang. Guiang scored in the next at bat and the team got the deciding runs later in the inning a two run homerun from Bryce Martin. Martin was also stellar in relief for his team, pitching 4.1 innings of no-hit baseball striking out seven.

In Saturday’s game against Fairmont, West Virginia, the New Tampa team had a huge offensive showing including a homerun each from Guiang, Conor Grady and Clayton Coringrato. Coringrato hit a grand slam in the fourth and was 2-for-3 in the game with five RBI and scored four runs.

Ethan Thomas has started and earned the win in both games. Thomas has seven strikeouts in two appearances and is 2-for-5 at the plate

New Tampa takes on Irmo, South Carolina Monday at 10 a.m. in its final match of pool play.
The South Carolina (0-2) team has had some bad luck early losing its first two games 14-11 and 8-6.

New Tampa holds wins over the other two teams in the bracket and is assured a spot in the semifinal rounds beginning Wednesday. The semifinals will air on ESPN2 Wednesday and the finals will air on ESPN on Friday.

Palma Ceia Little League Junior Baseball

Palma Ceia’s bats have been alive to start the Junior Baseball (ages 13-14) Southeast Region Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina as the team is 2-0, with wins against West Virginia and Tennessee in pool play.

Friday, PCLL won 21-1 against Saint Albans, West Virginia sparked by a two homerun, six RBI, five run performance from Cole Gibbs.

PCLL notched a guaranteed a spot in the semifinals with an 8-3 win Saturday against Clarksville Northwest, Tennessee.

Through the two games Jake Bak, Ronnie Ramirez and Trent Wessel have each chipped in with multi-hit games, while the combined pitching efforts of Nicholas Kavouklis, Patrick Kiszla and Ben Randall have held opponents to only four runs. PCLL has also gotten a spark at the plate from its bench as sub Dean Herman is batting near .900 for the tournament so far and help defensively from Carter Leslie, who has filled in all over the field.

The team plays its last game in pool play Sunday against Elkton Community, Virginia (2-0) to decide seeding for the semifinals beginning Monday. 

Check back with us here at the TBO.com Youth Sports Report Sunday and Monday for more results. 

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Undefeated Plant City Little League 9- and 10-year-old team wins Southern Region title

Posted Aug 4, 2011 by Jarrett Guthrie

Updated Aug 4, 2011 at 02:46 PM

Plant City Little League’s 9- and 10-year-old baseball team wrapped its undefeated season with a 3-1 win against Bridgewater, Virginia and a Southern Region title.

PCLL was 5-0 in the five-day tournament held in Ceredo-Kenova, West Virginia, winning the region tile Wednesday.

The 18-0 PCLL team took a first inning 2-0 advantage and relied on a duo of pitchers to hold on to its lead. JJ Gonzalez earned the win going 4.1 innings, allowing only one run on three hits and was 3-for-3 with an RBI at the plate. Parker Messick came on in relief to pick up the save, facing six batters in a 1.2 innings, striking out four.

Team homerun leader Hunter Emerine helped Plant City get through a tough 8-7 win against Virginia on Monday, in the qualifying rounds with a three-run shot in the sixth. Ben Pues had two grand slams in the tournament including a game changing shot in the fourth inning against South Carolina to come back from trailing 6-3 to win 23-6.

Plant City Little League 9-10 Team: Bryar Christian, Hunter Emerine, JJ Gonzalez, Andrew Long, Parker Messick, Mykel Oyola, Braxton Plunk, Ben Pues, Dylan Robinson, Connor Rogers, Cade Shissler.

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Palma Ceia/West Tampa wins region, will represent the Southeast in the junior softball World Series

Posted Aug 3, 2011 by Jarrett Guthrie

Updated Aug 3, 2011 at 10:38 PM

Palma Ceia/West Tampa junior softball will represent the Southeast in the Little League World Series after the team rallied late and used a big two-run homerun and scored three runs in extra innings, defeating Tennessee 5-2 Wednesday night.

In the top of the eighth inning Palma Ceia/West Tampa got a runner on base with a leadoff single, before Kasey Wishart sent the first pitch out over the centerfield wall. The Florida state champs added another run in the inning and pitcher Nikki Lopez shut the door on Tennessee (Clarksville Northwest LL). Lopez went all eight innings allowing one earned run and seven hits.

Palma Ceia/West Tampa breezed through pool play in the region tournament held in Fort Myers, taking out Virginia, Alabama, West Virginia and Georgia by a combined score 29-0 earning its shot in the final.

The win earns Palma Ceia/West Tampa a trip to the World Series in Kirkland, Washington August 14-20. This is the second straight year a team from Tampa will represent the Southeast in the junior softball Little League World Series as West Tampa Little League advanced to the finals in 2010 falling to Latin America in a tight 4-3 game.

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Palma Ceia junior baseball wins state championship

Posted Aug 2, 2011 by Jarrett Guthrie

Updated Aug 2, 2011 at 04:46 PM

Palma Ceia’s junior baseball team waited out two days of weather delays in Deland to unleash its own downpour of runs, outscoring opponents 62-5 in the five game tournament and winning the Florida State Title. Monday night Palma Ceia defeated Rockledge 5-1 in the final wrapping the game just before midnight.

Coach Jorge Ramirez said Tuesday, his team of 13 players has bought into a “team mentality of pitching and defense.” Despite the high run totals and big wins, the team didn’t hit a single homerun in the four-day tournament.

“All 13 kids on this team can swing the bat,” Ramirez said. “It’s not just 1-through-9, our subs - everyone is just killing the ball right now.”

Palma Ceia will now travel to the region tournament in Greenville, S.C. this weekend playing West Virginia Friday at 11 a.m. 

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New Tampa’s major baseball team rallies from loss to capture state title

Posted Aug 2, 2011 by Jarrett Guthrie

Updated Aug 2, 2011 at 04:28 PM

New Tampa Little League’s majors baseball team came out of pool play in Coral Springs with a 2-1 record, but relied on two standout pitching performances in the semifinals and finals to capture the state title Monday.

New Tampa’s lone loss came Saturday to Miami Kendall in pool play, but the team avenged its loss with a 6-1 win in Monday’s final. The fianl was highlighted by Bryce Martin’s 3-run single coming on his birthday.

New Tampa’s Conor Grady pitched a six inning complete game in the final, allowing only one earned run on two hits against a Kendall team that showed its power in the tournament 14 homeruns and scoring 53 runs prior to Monday.

In the semifinals, Ethan Thomas pitched 4.2 innings allowing only one run as New Tampa advanced against last year’s 11-year-old state champs Niceville.

“Playing the top seven teams in the state of Florida over a weekend is tough,” coach Ed Thinger said. “You think you have a pretty good team and then you show up down there and you have kids hitting homeruns left and right and kids throwing 70 miles-per-hour.”
“But these boys have just jelled together and just made this so easy for the coaching staff.”

On the weekend Aaron Guiang led the New Tampa offense with four homeruns in the tournament and a .411 batting average. Catcher Eddie Thinger earned the nickname “Ironman” amongst teammates as he caught 27 of the teams 28 innings in the tournament.

New Tampa will travel to Warner Robins, Ga. for the region tournament facing off against West Virginia, Virginia and South Carolina in pool play beginning Friday August 5.

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Softball combine coming to Sarasota

Posted Jul 29, 2011 by Nick Williams

Updated Jul 29, 2011 at 02:11 PM

Extra Innings of Sarasota will host a fast pitch softball combine in Sarasota on Saturday, Aug. 27., for female athletes starting in the eighth grade through the college level. 

The combine will be held at The Miss Sarasota Softball Complex ( 1133 Gun Club Rd.) at 8 a.m. According to a press release, coaches from USF, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Charleston Southern, Tennesse-Chattannoga, Furman, Georgia Tech, Misssissippi State, Nova Southern, Pasco-Hernando Community College, South Florida Community College, State College of Florida, Stetson, Florida Gulf Coast and other schools are expected to attend. 

For more information contact Tom Pluto at (941) 504-2715 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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Bay Area Hurricanes win super regional

Posted Jul 22, 2011 by Nick Williams

Updated Jul 22, 2011 at 10:18 AM

On Father’s Day weekend, the Bay Area Hurricanes AAU boys basketball team defeated the Jacksonville Lee Bulls in the championship game to win the AAU Super Regional Summertime Jamfest.

The team will next play in the AAU national tournament in Orlando, July 28-Aug.1.

For more information on the Hurricanes, click here

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Tampa Bay Juniors successful at indoor volleyball junior championships

Posted Jul 19, 2011 by Nick Williams

Updated Jul 19, 2011 at 06:46 PM

The Tampa Bay Juniors travel volleyball program had a successful showing at the recent USA Volleyball Indoor Junior Volleyball Championships in Atlanta.

The Tampa Bay Juniors 18-Under Black Girls Team went 8-2 to place fifth out fo 32 teams in the 18-Open Division. Berkeley Prep seniors Mackenzie Dagostino and Jordan Burgess were named to the All-Tournament team. The team lost to the eventual tournament champion in the quarterfinal round.

The team was recently ranked No. 3 in the nation in the PrepVolleyball.com national club volleyball poll.

The Tampa Bay Invaders 17-Under Boys Team went 4-7 to place 11th out of 36 teams. 

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Tampa softball team qualifies for national tournament

Posted Jul 13, 2011 by Nick Williams

Updated Jul 13, 2011 at 11:36 AM

The Tampa Mustangs Bell 18-Under travel softball team has qualified to compete in the ASA Girls 18 and Under Gold National Championship in San Diego, July 24-30.

The tournament will feature the top 64 travel teams in the nation.

Team Bell features several top players from the area, including Jefferson’s Reina Baluja, Sickles’ Mya Anderson, Wharton’s Mo Santos, Durant’s Jordan LaFave, and Bell’s daughter and Chamberlain infielder Bianka Bell, Tampa Catholic’s Krista Garcia and Blaire Kelley, Bloomingdale’s Leah Pemberton and Plant’s Jessica Butler.

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