James Shields is finished for the day having scattered four hits in his five innings.
Shields struck out three and allowed one - a solo home run to Twins second baseman Luke Hughes in the top of the fifth.
Closer Rafael Soriano is warming in the Rays bullpen and appears ready to make his spring debut.
The Rays took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning.
Sean Rodriguez, who has a single and a double in three at-bats, scored both runs.
Rodriguez also made a spectacular diving catch in center field to end the third inning. He ran toward the wall with his back to the plate and robbed Denard Span of at least a double. A heck of a play for anyone, much less a second baseman.
Three of the best wrestlers to ever come through the Brandon High wrestling program will wrap up their collegiate careers this weekend.
David Craig, Cesar Grajales and Franklin Gomez, each of whom were high school All-American’s with the Eagles, will compete at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Omaha, Neb. The event begins Thursday.
Gomez, a senior at Michigan State, is headed back to the NCAA Championships to defend his 133-pound individual title. Last season, Gomez became the first former Brandon High wrestler to win an NCAA title and the first Spartans wrestler to win an NCAA individual crown since 1995. After finishing third at the recent Big Ten Championships, Gomez, who is 23-2 this season, enters this weekend’s tournament as the No. 3 seed at 133 pounds. Gomez, who is making his third appearance at the NCAA Championships, also finished third as a sophomore in his first appearance at the tournament.
Grajales, a senior at Pennsylvania, is making his fourth trip to the NCAA Championships. An All-Ivy League selection three years, including first-team honors as a junior, Grajales ranks sixth in Penn program history with 109 career wins. He is 11-4 this year and enters this weekend’s tournament unseeded at 149 pounds.
Craig, a senior at Lehigh, is making his third trip to the NCAA Championships. Craig won a 184-pound title at the EIWA Championships as a junior and placed third at that event this season. He enters this weekend’s tournament with 86 career wins, including a 22-5 mark this season, and is the No. 12 seed at 184 pounds.
Plant City sophomore quarterback Bennie Coney is the second signal caller from Hillsborough County to receive an invite to the Steve Clarkson Dreammaker Quarterback Showcase at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando on April 10.
Jefferson junior quarterback Quentin Williams received an invitation to the event last week.
Coney passed for 1,613 yards, 14 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in 2009, his first full season as a starter under center. He helped the Raiders make the Class 5A state playoffs, where they lost to eventual state champion Plant in a regional quarterfinal.
Coney recently took part in the Elite 11 regional quarterback competition in Orlando.
Wharton girls soccer player Fallon Vaughn has committed to Florida Atlantic University for the 2011 season according to Wildcats coach Denis Vukorep.
Vaughn, who plays club soccer for Hillsborough County United, scored seven goals and added nine assists for the Wildcats this past season and was an honorable mention on the Tribune’s All-Hillsborough County team named last week. Vaughn was also named to the Western Conference National Division First team.
The Owls already have a pair of bay area players on their roster in former Plant goalkeeper Courtney Zwetsch and former Countryside forward Katie Kent. Marisa Russo of Mitchell and Stephanie Ferro from East Lake also signed with the Owls in February to join the squad this fall.
The FC Tampa Bay Rowdies added two more players to their roster on Wednesday morning, completing the signing of St. Petersburg’s Chad Burt while acquiring goalkeeper Josh Lambo on loan from FC Dallas.
Burt, who grew up playing for Strictly Soccer in St. Petersburg, was on trial with the club for the first two weeks of training camp, but the Rowdies had been working on a contract for the past week. Burt said he was very happy to become a member of the Rowdies squad.
“I’ve been over there in St. Pete pretty much all my life,” Burt said. “It’s great to be able to play in the community I grew up in.”
While Burt has local ties, as with defender Joe Donoho and midfielder Pascal Milien, Rowdies coach Paul Dalglish said that wasn’t a determining factor in him being signed to a contract.
“People are talking about him being a local player, but he wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t good enough,” Dalglish said. “He’s been a real shining light since we started back, and him being a local player is just a bonus.”
Dalglish was also very happy to have added Lambo, a former U.S. Under-17 National team player. With Dallas having recently added veteran goalkeeper Kevin Hartman to a roster that already included Dario Sala, Lambo was moved to give him a chance to gain experience at the professional level.
While Dallas can recall Lambo at any point during the season, Dalglish said he expects that only to happen in the case of injury to either Sala or Hartman.
“Josh has got an incredible resume for a 19-year-old,” Dalglish said. “He’s one of the hottest prospects in the country in goal. Obviously I knew a little bit about him from our Liverpool combine, he’s been on our radar for a while, I’m just delighted to get that one done to add to two already very good goalkeepers in Phil and Daryl.”
PRACTICE NOTES: Yendry Diaz, Long Tan and Joe Donoho were all nursing injuries at Wednesday morning’s practice, Diaz not sure when he would return from a groin strain. Tan and Donoho looked in better shape, Tan suffering a knock to his hip and Donoho getting treatment on his right big toe, with Donoho saying he thought he would be able to play on Friday against the Philadelphia Union. ... Other players are starting to feel the effects of preseason, with the trainer being kept busy after the session ended strapping on ice bags to multiple players. The players have a recuperatory yoga session on Wednesday afternoon before getting back to a pair of sessions on Thursday.
The Hillsborough vs. Pinellas County All-Star Boys Basketball game will be played Friday at Hillsborough Community College’s Dale Mabry campus. Admission is $5. The girls game starts at 6 p.m., followed by the boys game, a slam dunk and three-point shooting contest. The games will be aired on Bright House’s Catch 47.
Hillsborough Boys
Jeff Thomas, Durant
Jake Hodges, Newsome
Samal Shepherd, Newsome
LeCarlton Nelson, Tampa Bay Tech
Ravon Bullard, Hillsborough
Isaac Dix, Armwood
David Fletcher, Tampa Prep
Jamal Cherry, Tampa Prep
Austin Schonbrun, Jesuit
Al’von Woodard, Hillsborough
Damian Dixon, Wharton
Michael McFarland, Blake
Fred Lewis, Bayshore Christian
Pinellas Boys
Allen Wilson, St. Petersburg
Gabriel Moton, St. Petersburg
Chris Whiting, Seminole
Ladarius Barnes, Lakewood
Pat Kearney, Largo
Dominic Lane, Lakewood
Norman Williams, Boca Ciega
Ke’Owen Walker, Gibbs
Dino Tabakovic, Countryside
Kyle Kinnear, Countryside
Former Gaither baseball player Gus Fernandez had a game to remember Saturday against Barry University.
Florida Tech’s junior infielder belted three home runs and finished 5-for-5 with six runs scored and seven RBIs in the Panthers’ 18-9 victory.
Fernandez, a 2005 Gaither grad, hit a two-run homer in the first, a solo shot in the fourth and a three-run blast in the fifth. He also had a pair of singles, including a run-scoring base hit in a three-run sixth.
Fernandez has been one of the top offensive performers for the Panthers this season. Through 22 games, he is hitting .357 (second-best on the team) with a team-best six homers and 28 RBIs.
In February, Fernandez was named Florida Tech’s Male Student Athlete of the Month.
If things go well this weekend for CDS Prep quarterback Billy Embody, it could pave the way for him to become the first player from the Patriots program to end up on a Division I roster.
CDS Prep football coach Lane McLaughlin said Embody is headed to Southern Methodist University this weekend and will interview there for the Hunt Leadership Scholarship. Embody already has been awarded two academic scholarships, according to McLaughlin - the Rotunda Scholarship and the Distinguished Leadership Scholarship. If Embody is able to land the Hunt as well, he would have more than enough in academic earnings to cover his tuition and room and board.
Embody also has been offered a preferred walk-on spot with the Mustangs, who compete in Conference USA, according to McLaughlin.
Embody passed for a combined 3,863 yards and 43 touchdowns in his final two seasons with the Patriots, including 1,836 yards and 25 touchdowns as a senior.
The Rays optioned OF Fernando Perez and catchers John Jaso and Jose Lobaton to minor league camp and reassigned 1B Chris Richard to minor league camp.
Perez, whose progress this spring has been slowed by shoulder surgery last November, hit .316 in 10 at-bats.
Jaso, who needs to get ready for the Triple A season, hit .300 in six games.
Lobaton, acquired from the Padres organization last season, had one hit in eight at-bats.
Richard (.333) will return to Durham for his third season.
Sebring Live on Speed TV
The Speed TV channel and http://www.speedtv.com will broadcast 13 hours of the 58th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh From Florida, including live online coverage of qualifying Friday. Only a two-hour segment break for NASCAR stuff from Bristol will interrupt Speed’s live coverage of the season-opening American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron Saturday.
The schedule:
Friday:
1:45 pm – 2:50 pm – qualifying live on http://www.speedtv.com only
Saturday:
10 am – Noon – Live
Noon – 2 pm – live on http://www.speedtv.com only
2 pm – 11 pm – Live
Brian Till and Leigh Diffey will lead the play-by-play booth, while former sports car racing standouts Dorsey Schroeder and Calvin Fish will be providing color commentary. Rotating on pit road throughout the day will be Justin Bell, Jamie Howe and Chris Neville.
A veteran crew that has worked the Sebring race for the last eight years – an eternity of togetherness in the TV world – led by director Billy McCoy and producer Jim Roller will broadcast the event.
USF junior G Dominique Jones said “no comment’’ when asked last night if he was coming back next season.
On his Facebook page today, Jones posted “i should have kept it but i aint tripping…its time to make money now.’‘
With 8 seconds left and USF trailing by a point against N.C. State, Jones passed the ball instead of taking the final shot in the Bulls’ 58-57 loss to N.C. State in the first round of the NIT.
After leaving the postgame press conference, it sure seemed like Jones had played his last game for the Bulls. He was stopped by athletic director Doug Woolard outside the media room and Woolard gave him a hug and spoke briefly to Jones.
As Jones walked back onto the court toward the locker room, I asked how long his “no comment” comment would last. He just smiled and said “no comment,’’ and then lamented how tough of a loss Tuesday night was.
If Jones does make it official soon, most NBA draft projections projections have him going late in the first round or early second round, although there are questions about Jones’ shooting and his size.
At 6-foot-4, he is considered a combo guard, but not a good enough ball-handler to play the point in the NBA or big enough to defend most NBA 2-guards and small forwards.
Stay tuned.
Updated Sebring Entry List
The updated entry list for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh From Florida has been posted and now shows 34 cars, following the withdrawal of the crashed #37 Intersport Racing Lola and the no-show for the Creation.
Drivers from 16 countries are entered, including USA, England, Italy, Canada, Germany, Spain, Monaco, Denmark, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Mexico, Austria, Belgium, Brazil and the Channel Islands.
The divisions and schedule for the 30th annual Saladino Baseball Tournament have been released.
The 28-team tournament, which features all 27 Hillsborough County public school programs and Brooks-DeBartolo, will be held April 10-16. Brandon again will serve as the host site, with Riverview, Jefferson and the University of Tampa also hosting divisional round matchups.
Here are the seven divisions:
Atlantic: Blake, Sickles, Bloomingdale, Jefferson
Eastern: Tampa Bay Tech, Alonso, East Bay, Freedom
Indian: Chamberlain, Strawberry Crest, King, Steinbrenner
Northern: Hillsborough, Wharton, Durant, Lennard
Pacific: Spoto, Robinson, Plant City, Gaither
Southern: Armwood, Plant, Leto, Riverview
Western: Brooks-DeBartolo, Middleton, Newsome, Brandon
To view the entire tournament schedule, click HERE.
Peugeot seems eager to continue its run of endurance success with the fastest time unofficially Tuesday in testing for the 58th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida. The No. 08 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP of Pedro Lamy, Sebastien Bourdais and Nic Minassian posted a fastest lap of 1:46.232 (125.386 mph) around the 3.7-mile, 17-turn Sebring International Raceway. The two factory Team Peugeot Total coupes are the favorites in the opening round for the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón. Aston Martin Racing may have something to say about that in the end, though. The slick Aston Martin V12-powered Lola B09/60 coupe was second quickest on the day at 1:46.557 (125.004 mph). Adrian Fernandez, Harold Primat and Stefan Mücke will drive the works entry.
A record number of spectators streamed into Sebring International Raceway early this morning as gates opened for Saturday’s 58th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida. Several hundred motorhomes and campers had been waiting in line for more than two weeks in anticipation of Wednesday’s 6 am opening. The race marks the start of the 2010 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón.
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