2 baseball players make commitments

Posted Feb 9, 2012 by Adam Adkins

Updated Feb 9, 2012 at 05:03 PM

Two Hillsborough County junior baseball players have made verbal commitments to in-state Division I programs.

Gaither shortstop Oscar Mercado has pledged to Florida State according to coach Frank Permuy, while Durant coach Butch Valdes said shortstop/pitcher Tyler Danish has pledged to Florida.

Mercado, entering his third year as a starter for the Cowboys, hit .338 with four doubles, three triples, 23 RBIs and 21 runs scored last season.

Danish was a second team all-county pick by the Tribune in 2011 after batting .484 with 15 doubles, 16 RBIs and 23 runs scored.

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State cross country meet leaving Little Everglades

Posted Feb 9, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 9, 2012 at 05:57 PM

After staging the state cross country championships at Little Everglades Ranch in Dade City since 2005, the Florida High School Athletics Association announced today the venue’s foundation has been granted a release from its final year as the meet’s contracted host, FHSAA director of athletics Shanell Young confirmed Thursday.

The popular Pre-State meet will also no longer be staged at Little Everglades Ranch.

In recent years, there has been growing gulf between the owners of Little Everglades Ranch and those in the state’s cross country community, particularly the coaches. The main issue has been entre fees and the price to park and attend events there. For the Pre-State meet, the ranch charged entry fees close to $150 per school. Spectators for this meet and the state finals were charged $9 each and $10 for parking, including buses and vans that transported the teams.

Organizers of the event claim the pricing was needed to help offset the cost of keeping up the facility, which is designed primarily for horse steeplechase races. The parking policy was done, they say, to avoid confusion as to who and who was not allowed to park free in the rush of traffic trying to enter the parking area at peak times. And when passes were issued to teams in the past, organizers say some teams abused the passes or allowed them to end up in the wrong team vehicle.

Plant coach Roy Harrison said he has mixed feelings about the meet leaving Little Everglades.

“It’s nice to change it around, travel and get away from Tampa a little bit,” Harrison said. “But I think we should have a permanent site for the state meet. We have no state records because we’re always moving the state meet.

“I liked the Little Everglades course a lot meet because as a coach, I could see my runners a lot. They let you on the infield and I could see them all over the course. A lot of meets, they won’t let you do that.”

Panthers boys coach Mike Boza said he understands the financial reasons for the move.

“I’m going to miss the course but with it being a private location, it was necessary for them to require a certain amount of revenue to cover their expenses,” Boza said. “Hopefully, we can find a public venue and a sports commission elsewhere that will allow us to have a great state meet.”

The FHSAA will post proposals specifications for the meet on its web site starting April 1. Request for Proposals (RFP) packages will then be sent to interested bidders. Once the bids have been submitted, FHSAA officials will make site visits, rank the bidders and make a decision on the top venue before starting negotiations.

“The FHSAA has been contacted verbally by a number of venues interested in hosting the Cross Country Finals thus far and we eagerly await the responses from facilities that want to partner with us,” Sobers said.

The venue prior to Little Everglades was Tampa’s Ed Radice Sports Complex in northwest Tampa. The meet has also been as far away as north Jacksonville.

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Wharton athletes Litton, Enos, arrested

Posted Feb 9, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 9, 2012 at 03:01 PM

Wharton High football standouts Chase Litton and Rocky Enos, both 16-year-olds, were arrested Wednesday on multiple charges, both felony and misdemeanor, for burgarly and theft, Hillsborough County Sherriff’s Office records show.

After being arrested and booked at the Orient Road jail, Litton, the Wildcats’ starting quarterback, was released a few hours later on his recognizance. Litton is also a starter on Wharton’s basketball team, which is scheduled to play Plant on Friday for the district title.

Enos, who started at linebacker last fall, was arrested at Wharton and released this morning from the Orient Road jail.

The 6-foot-5, 190-pound Litton earned the starting job at quarterback last season as a sophomore and Enos is a 5-11, 185-pound junior. Both players were honorable mention selections for the Tampa Tribune’s 2011 all-Hilsborough County football team.

Enos was arrested on a total of 10 charges and Litton was booked on 10. Each teenager is facing charges of third-degree felony burglary of unoccupied dwellings and vehicles, as well as theft (articles in value from $300 to $5,000). Both are also charged with petit theft.

Wharton football coach David Mitchell could not be immediately reached for comment.

Photo: Wharton sophomore QB Chase Litton in action last season against Durant. Photo by Kevin Howe/Tampa Tribune.

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Plant has some fun with the Governor

Posted Feb 9, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 9, 2012 at 11:46 AM

When reading all the accomplishments of Plant’s football and girls cross country teams at his cabinet meeting Thursday at the Florida State Fairgrounds, Florida Governor Rick Scott went off script several times and, while recognizing their outstanding achievements, poked a little fun at both squads, too.

Under head coach Robert Weiner, who was also in attendance, Scott said, this senior class of football players has won four district and regional titles, three state crowns and lost just six games.

“What, were you just being nice those (six) days?” Scott joked about the Panthers’ football dominance.

Scott also acknowledged the Panthers football team’s academic success of achieving a team grade point average of 3.1. And then he moved on to the girls cross country team, which has a GPA of 3.8, qualified for the state meet 25 straight years, finished in the top five 21 teams and won 10 state championships under coach Roy Harrison.

“That’s a little greedy,” Scott said of Plant’s record number of girls state championships. “You should share a little bit.”

And then Scott had a little more fun. As he called them up to the podium for a photo opportunity, he noted the Plant girls had “A little higher GPA there” than the football players.

The captains representing the football team were Daniel Casselli, Antonio Crawford, James Few, Jonathan Haney, Tate Rogers and Patrick Wright. Also on hand was Plant principal Rob Nelson.

The cross country team included Danielle Kissel, Julia Rodriguez, Kara Halfaker, Caroline Gibson, Erica Oosterhout, Kartherine Ralston and Scarlett Fox. Fox asked them on the podium if he had mispronounced any of their names, including Oosterhout’s, to which Halfaker replied “Uh, kinda.” 

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Robinson’s Rivera signs with Ridgewater

Posted Feb 8, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 8, 2012 at 04:03 PM

Robinson senior Vic Rivera, a two-year starter at defensive back, has signed a letter on intent with Ridgewater College, a community and technical college in Willmar, Minn., Knights assistant coach Shawn Taylor announced Wednesday.

Ridgewater competes in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC) and Region 13 of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Rivera will join three players from Plant already there, Davis Marvel, Steven Galloway and Estimphile Wadensky.

Wesley Chapel receiver Robert Jota also signed recently with Ridgewater.

The 6-foot, 190-pound Rivera had six interceptions as a junior and three last fall. He also recorded a total of 76 tackles over the course of two seasons and knocked down five pass attempts.

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DeCamp hired as co-defensive coordinator at Robinson

Posted Feb 8, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 8, 2012 at 03:09 PM

After working as a position coach the past 10 years at Jesuit and Plant, Scott DeCamp says it was time to be a varsity coordinator. He officially took that step this week when Robinson head coach Mike DePue announced DeCamp has been hired to be the Knight’s co-defensive coordinator.

DeCamp’s most recent post has been as defensive backs coach for Jesuit the last two seasons under James Harrel. From 2004-09, DeCamp was a junior varsity defensive coordinator and varsity assistant at Plant under Robert Weiner. And prior to that, he was an assistant at Jesuit under former coach Dominick Ciao.

“The hardest part is leaving the kids and coaches at Jesuit because they’re all just great people,” DeCamp said. “But coordinating is something I’ve always wanted to do and at Robinson, I really feel like I’m needed there.”

DeCamp, however, won’t be too far removed from Jesuit because Robinson competes in the same Class 5A district as the Tigers.

DePue, who is in his last year as a teacher at Robinson before his scheduled retirement, said he and DeCamp will share duties as defensive coordinators. DePue said DeCamp is a good fit for his staff and that the athletes at Robinson have already connected with him.

“He’s going to do a great job for us,” DePue said. “He’s going to bring a lot of knowledge and energy for us here and we’re putting him to work.”

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Hargreaves, McQuay, Sherit make Rivals 100 list

Posted Feb 8, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 8, 2012 at 03:44 PM

And just like that, the college football recruiting engine has cranked up again.

Rivals.com helped kick-start that ever-growing, seemingly unstoppable snow ball today with the release of its top 100 prospects for the class of 2013. As subjective as it may be, making this list is a sure-fire way to attract attention. And after jumping to the No. 10 spot on the list, Wharton defensive back Vernon Hargreaves was taken aside by head coach David Mitchell today and given a little talk.

“I told him there’s no pressure on you because you’re the car everyone wants to buy,” Mitchell said. “I told him he just needs to take care of himself in school, do the right things out of school, work hard and just sit back and enjoy the ride.

“He needs to take all of his (official college recruiting) visits and don’t rush it. And I think with his dad being a (University of South Florida) coach (Bulls special tams coordinator and defensive ends coach Vernon Hargreaves), I think he will do just fine with the recruiting.”

The younger Hargreaves is only 5-foot-10 and 177 pounds, but Mitchell says he is “the real deal.” It’s not just Hargreaves’ ability to play the defensive secondary, it’s his total athletic ability. Hargreaves can play nearly any position on the field and last season saw duty at quarterback when starter Chase Litton went down with an injury.

Hargreaves already has offers from all the major schools in Florida, along with Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Purdue and Virginia. Mitchell says his mailbox at school is overflowing with colleges sending letters of interest in Hargreaves. Mitchell says Hargreaves also already has invitations from the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and Under Armour All-America Game.

Speaking of athletic, Armwood’s Leon McQuay III and Hillsborough’s Jordan Sherit also made the Rivals 100. McQuay, a defensive back/safety who returned an interception for a touchdown in the Hawks’ state championship win over Miami Central, is No. 32 on the list while Sherit, who recorded more than 100 tackles last fall at defensive end for the Terriers, is No. 76.

Both McQuay and Sherit also have more than a dozen offers from major Division-I football programs. And like Hargreaves, the schools lining up for their services on the football field.

The bonus for the schools recruiting these players is they are all solid students. Sherit is in Hillsborough’s International Baccalaureate program while both McQuay and Hargreaves are honor roll students. 

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Bloomingdale’s Jasczak commits to Nova Southeastern

Posted Feb 7, 2012 by Jarrett Guthrie

Updated Feb 7, 2012 at 04:36 PM

Bloomingdale senior Melissa Jasczak started setting goals early, or perhaps better stated started stopping goals early. At 10 years old, the Bulls keeper started working with trainer, USF assistant and former Cambridge Christian coach John Mendoza.

Mendoza said he was proud last Friday to watch Jasczak take the next step in her career signing her national letter of intent to Nova Southeastern in front of friends and family at O’Brien’s in Brandon. 

“For me it’s very satisfying to see Melissa grow into such a great keeper and a great person in the past eight years,” Mendoza said. “Watching her set goals as a 10-year-old and begin able to achieve them with an academic-athletic scholarship to Nova just shows how hard she has worked in the classroom and on the field.”

Jasczak was the starting keeper for Bloomingdale earning First Team All Western Conference honors this season as the Bulls were region qualifiers and the district runner-up.

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Governor to honor Plant football, cross country teams

Posted Feb 7, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 7, 2012 at 02:18 PM

The accolades keep rolling in for the state champions at Plant High.

After recently being honored by the City of Tampa for their accomplishments, it’s now Florida Governor Rick Scott’s turn to recognize the state champion Plant football team and girls cross country team. Scott is scheduled to do that during a cabinet meeting Thursday morning at the Florida State Fairgrounds.

Plant’s football team captured the Class 8A state title last December when it defeated Miramar at the Citrus Bowl. It was the Panthers’ fourth state crown in six seasons under coach Robert Weiner and his staff. Weiner said the team’s nine captains will be formally introduced by Scott to the cabinet.

In November, the Panthers’ girls cross country team hauled in a state record 10th championship for veteran coach Roy Harrison. No other coach in Florida has won more state crowns for girls cross country than Harrison. Harrison plans to bring his seven varsity runners to the event Thursday.

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Former Wolfson head coach, Plant assistant Meyer joins Leto staff

Posted Feb 7, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 7, 2012 at 11:59 AM

Leto football coach Matt Kitchie added another impressive name to his staff this week with the addition of former Jackonville Wolfson head coach and former Plant assistant Greg Meyer.

The 34-year-old Meyer will serve as Kitchie’s defensive coordinator. He joins another former Plant assistant, Mo Harris, who was hired as running backs coach two weeks ago. Harris was offensive coordinator for Tampa Bay Tech last season.

“I’m not going to hide the fact I want what Plant has. We want to win a state championship at Leto,” Kitchie said. “With guys like Greg and Mo here, I’m hoping a little of that magic coach Weiner has developed at Plant will rub off over here.”

Meyer was Wolfson’s head coach the last two seasons, where he compiled a record of 5-15. Kitchie said Meyer wanted to return to his native Tampa area for family reasons and has already landed a teaching position at Leto. Meyer, a former tight end and center for Plant, was a junior varsity defensive line coach and varsity assistant under Panthers head coach Robert Weiner during the Panthers’ 2006 and 2008 championship season.

“The best part of this is that our kids are going to benefit tremendously from Greg and Mo. They’re great teachers and great people and I’m very fortunate to have them coming on board here.”

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