Prep sports: FHSAA releases final district alignments

The Florida High School Athletic Association announced the final district alignments Thursday for boys weightlifting, tennis, track and field and wrestling.

The alignments are listed below with local teams in bold.

BOYS WEIGHTLIFTING

CLASS 2A-DISTRICT 7 - Braden River, Lakewood Ranch, Manatee, Palmetto, Charlotte, North Port, Port Charlotte, Riverview, Sarasota, Venice.

CLASS 1A-DISTRICT 8 - Bayshore, Cardinal Mooney, Southeast, Arcadia DeSoto, Auburndale, Avon Park, Booker, Englewood Lemon Bay, Frostproof, Kissimmee Poinciana, Lake Placid, Lake Wales, Lake Wales Vanguard, Lakeland Tenoroc, Mulberry.

TENNIS

CLASS 4A-DISTRICT 8 - Manatee, North Port, Riverview, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Seminole.

CLASS 3A-DISTRICT 12 - Bayshore, Braden River, Lakewood Ranch, Palmetto, Charlotte, Port Charlotte, Sarasota, Venice.

CLASS 2A-DISTRICT 11 - Southeast, Arcadia DeSoto, Booker, Cape Coral Mariner, Englewood Lemon Bay, Fort Myers Dunbar, Lehigh Acres.

CLASS 1A-DISTRICT 9 - Bradenton Christian, Cardinal Mooney, Out-of-Door Academy, Saint Stephen's, Clearwater Central Catholic, Largo Indian Rocks Christian, St. Petersburg Admiral Farragut, St. Petersburg Northside Christian, St. Petersburg Shorecrest Prep, St. Petersburg Canterbury, St. Petersburg Catholic.

TRACK AND FIELD

CLASS 4A-DISTRICT 7 - Manatee, Lithia Newsome, North Port, Riverview, Tampa Riverview, Valrico Bloomingdale.

CLASS 3A-DISTRICT 11 - Palmetto, Cape Coral Island Coast, Charlotte, Estero, Fort Myers Cypress Lake, Port Charlotte, Sarasota, South Fort Myers, Venice.

CLASS 3A-DISTRICT 9 - Bayshore, Braden River, Lakewood Ranch, Brandon, Dover Strawberry Crest, Gibsontown East Bay, Ruskin Lennard, Seffner Armwood.

CLASS 2A-DISTRICT 10 - Southeast, Arcadia DeSoto, Booker, Lehigh, Riverview Spoto, St. Petersburg Lakewood, Wauchula Hardee.

CLASS 1A-DISTRICT 11 - Bradenton Christian, Cape Coral Oasis (boys only), Fort Myers Canterbury, Fort Myers Evangelical Christian, Fort Myers Southwest Florida Christian, Moore Haven, Naples Community School, Naples First Baptist, Naples Seacrest Country Day, Naples St. John Neumann.

CLASS 1A-DISTRICT 10 - Cardinal Mooney, Out-of-Door Academy, Saint Stephen's, St. Petersburg Admiral Farragut, St. Petersburg Catholic, St. Petersburg Keswick Christian, St. Petersburg Northside Christian, St. Petersburg Shorecrest Prep, Sarasota Christian.

WRESTLING

CLASS 3A-DISTRICT 8 -Manatee, Largo Pinellas Park, Naples Gulf Coast, North Port, Riverview, St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg Northeast, Sarasota.

CLASS 2A-DISTRICT 11 -Bayshore, Braden River, Lakewood Ranch, Palmetto, Cape Coral, Cape Coral Ida Baker, Cape Coral Island Coast, Cape Coral Mariner, Charlotte, Port Charlotte, Venice.

CLASS 1A-DISTRICT 11 - Saint Stephen's, Southeast, Booker, Cape Coral Oasis, Englewood Lemon Bay, Fort Myers Dunbar, Fort Myers Gateway Charter.

Prep sports: Lakewood Ranch wins academic team title

Lakewood Ranch won the overall academic team championship in Class 4A for the 2010-11 school year, the Florida High School Athletic Association announced Monday.

The Mustangs totaled 122 points to get past runner-up Gulf Breeze (103).

Points were awarded for high a school's total grade-point average was in each sport, with 10 points going to first place, nine points for second place, etc.

Lakewood Ranch will receive a plaque in the fall.

Prep baseball: Lakeland falls in 5A final

A night after rallying to beat Manatee in a state semifinal, Lakeland was shackled during Saturday's state Class 5A state baseball championship game.

The Dreadnaughts lost 2-0 to West Boca Raton Community despite the best efforts of Tyler Howe. A night after tossing 2 1/3 perfect innings of relief against the Canes, Howe went six innings, allowing two runs - one earned - and five hits while striking out three and walking none.

But West Boca scored twice in the second inning, which was enough for pitcher Parker Danciu. The junior walked three, struck out two and allowed five hits.

It was an impressive tournament for the Bulls, who also shut out Pace in Friday's semifinal.

Lakeland defeated Manatee 7-6 on Friday.

Prep baseball: Canes state semifinal delayed

PORT ST.LUCIE - Inclement weather has pushed back the start of Manatee's state semifinal baseball game tonight.

The Hurricanes will face Lakeland in a Class 5A state semifinal at 6 p.m. at Digital Domain Park.

The game was originally scheduled for 5 p.m.

Prep baseball: Rain? Rain? Go away!

Well, so much for it being "hot and overcast," as I mentioned 20 minutes ago in my previous post.
As you can see by this picture I snapped from inside a hotel, it is raining here in Port St. Lucie, where Manatee and Lakeland will meet in a Class 5A state baseball semifinal tonight at 5.
This wasn't supposed to happen, according to weather.com, which called for sunny skies and temps in the high 80s. Then again, it isn't happening now, according to weather.com, which has current conditions in Port St. Lucie being "partly cloudy."
Uh...
Stay tuned to Prep Rally for any possible postponements or other weather-related snafus. It appears to be letting up, but it's late May in Florida...so you never really know what to expect.

Prep baseball: Manatee takes the field in less than five hours

(Manatee second baseman Mitchell Shreves takes grounders Thursday during a workout in Fort Pierce)

PORT ST. LUCIE - It's and hot and a little overcast here at Port St. Lucie, where in less than five hours, Manatee meets Lakeland in a Class 5A state semifinal at Digital Domain Park.
Manatee arrived Thursday afternoon and took batting practice for about an hour at a complex in Fort Pierce, located about 10 minutes away from Port St. Lucie.
In earlier action today, Maitland Orangewood Christian defeated Tampa Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate 5-4 in a Class 2A state semifinal.
The winner faces either Pace or West Boca Raton Community at 7:05 p.m. Saturday for the state title. Those two teams 8 p.m. tonight in the other Class 5A state semifinal.
To recap Manatee's stirring run to state, head to Bradenton. com and check out my stories from earlier this week.
I did a feature on Manatee coach Dwayne Strong, a profile on the Canes' band of seniors, a look back at the Manatee's 1963 state championship team, a column on Manatee's arrival and practice in Fort Pierce and a capsule breaking down today's game.

Prep baseball: Hurricanes take BP on arrival Thursday

(photo by John Lembo)

FORT PIERCE - Under the watchful eye of coach Dwayne Strong, pictured above, Manatee spent roughly an hour taking batting practice, shagging flies and fielding grounders Thursday at the Bob Gladwin Baseball Complex in Lawnwood.

The complex, which also includes a football stadium and tennis courts, is located about 10 miles from Port St. Lucie's Digital Domain Park, site of Friday's Class 5A state semifinal between the Hurricanes and Lakeland.

"I just wanted to stay in the routine that we've been doing...and we didn't want to miss a day swinging the bats," Strong said. "The other thing, I don't want to get stale in that hotel room."

The Hurricanes also planned on attending Thursday's Class 3A state final between Fort Myers Bishop Verot and Pensacola. Verot, which eliminated Southeast in a regional semifinal, won the state title with a 4-3 win.

Friday begins with breakfast at 8 a.m. followed by another trip to Digital Domain Park to watch of a few innings of the Class 2A semifinal between Maitland Orangewood Christian and Tampa Brooks-DeBartolo. That game begins at 10.

"Then we'll come back and have lunch," Strong said, "and get ready to go."

With assistant Danny Carter pitching from behind a screen, the Hurricanes batted in shifts. Meanwhile, assistant coach Richard Glass, who is documenting the trip on video, and Strong hit grounders to the Canes infielders.

"We can't stop talking about it, and we can't wait for (Friday)," said junior Correlle Prime, who is 9-1 on the mound and is batting .390.

A win Friday means Manatee plays for the state championship Saturday against either Pace or West Boca Community.

Getting to the final four is an accomplishment. That said, the Canes want to see it through.

"Don't get me wrong - we're not going to tied up in if we don't win (Friday) or we don't win Saturday, it's the end of the world, because this has been a great experience," Strong said. "But I can tell you one thing, if something happens, and we don't (win), it's going to hurt, because these guys put a lot of work in.

"But they're not going to let it take away from their experience, because they're enjoying this. This is awesome."

Prep sports: FHSAA unveils more district alingments

(fhsaa.org) The Florida High School Athletic Association released tentative alignments for tennis, track and field, wrestling and boys weightlifting Wednesday.
The alignments are for the 2011-12 and 2012-2013 school years.
Schools have until 5 p.m. Friday, May 27 to appeal their classifications.
The proposed districts are listed below with local teams in bold.

TENNIS
CLASS 4A-DISTRICT 8 - Manatee, North Port, Riverview, St. Petersburg, Seminole.
CLASS 3A-DISTRICT 12 - Bayshore, Braden River, Lakewood Ranch, Palmetto, Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda Charlotte, Sarasota, Venice.
CLASS 2A-DISTRICT 11 - Southeast, Arcadia DeSoto, Booker, Cape Coral Mariner, Englewood Lemon Bay, Fort Myers Dunbar, Lehigh Acres Lehigh.
CLASS 1A-DISTRICT 9 - Bradenton Christian, Cardinal Mooney, Out-of-Door Academy, Saint Stephen's, Clearwater Central Catholic, Largo Indian Rocks Christian, St. Petersburg Admiral Farragut, St. Petersburg Catholic, St. Petersburg Northside Christian, St. Petersburg Shorecrest Prep.

TRACK AND FIELD
CLASS 4A-DISTRICT 7 - Manatee, Lithia Newsome, Plant City Durant, North Port, Sarasota Riverview, Tampa Riverview.
CLASS 3A-DISTRICT 9 - Bayshore, Braden River, Lakewood Ranch, Brandon, Dover Strawberry Crest, Tampa Chamberlain, Tampa Gaither, Tampa Leto, Tampa Sickles.
CLASS 3A-DISTRICT 11 - Palmetto, Cape Coral Island Coast, Charlotte, Estero, Fort Myers Cypress Lake, Port Charlotte, Venice.
CLASS 2A-DISTRICT 10 - Southeast, Arcadia DeSoto, Booker, Lehigh Acres Lehigh, Riverview Spoto, St. Petersburg Lakewood, Wauchula Hardee.
CLASS 1A-DISTRICT 10 - Cardinal Mooney, Out-of-Door Academy, Saint Stephen's, Fort Meade, St. Petersburg Admiral Farragut, St. Petersburg Catholic, St. Petersburg Keswick Christian, St. Petersburg Northside Christian, St. Petersburg Shorecrest Prep (girls only), Sarasota Christian.
CLASS 1A-DISTRICT 11 - Bradenton Christian, Cape Coral Oasis (boys only), Fort Myers Canterbury, Fort Myers Southwest Florida Christian, Moore Haven, Naples Community School, Naples First Baptist, Naples St. John Neumann, Naples Seacrest Country Day.

WEIGHTLIFTING (BOYS)
CLASS 2A-DISTRICT 7 - Braden River, Lakewood Ranch, Manatee, Palmetto, Charlotte, North Port, Port Charlotte, Riverview, Sarasota, Venice.
CLASS 1A-DISTRICT 8 - Bayshore, Cardinal Mooney, Southeast, Arcadia DeSoto, Auburndale, Avon Park, Booker, Englewood Lemon Bay, Frostproof, Kissimmee Poinciana, Lakeland Tenoroc, Lake Wales Vanguard, Lake Wales, Lake Placid, Wauchula Hardee.

WRESTLING
CLASS 3A-DISTRICT 8 - Manatee, Largo Pinellas Park, Naples Gulf Coast, North Port, Riverview, St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg Northeast, Sarasota.
CLASS 2A-DISTRICT 11 - Bayshore, Braden River, Lakewood Ranch, Palmetto, Cape Coral, Cape Coral Ida Baker, Cape Coral Island Coast, Cape Coral Mariner, Charlotte, Port Charlotte, Venice.
CLASS 1A-DISTRICT 11 - Saint Stephen's, Southeast, Booker, Cape Coral Oasis, Englewood Lemon Bay, Fort Myers Dunbar, Fort Myers Gateway Charter.

Prep football: Spring game matchups

(pagemoorephoto.com)

Cord Sandberg and the Manatee Hurricanes were the last locals standing last season before falling to Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas in a Class 5A state semifinal.

That's Palmetto's Quinten Bostic in pursuit of Sandberg during last fall's game at Hawkins Stadium.

The march to next season begins a week from today, when football teams are permitted to conduct their first official practice of the spring.

The games are listed below.

Friday, May 13

St. Petersburg Admiral Farragut at Braden River, 7 p.m.

Thursday, May 19

St. Petersburg Shorecrest Prep at Bradenton Christian, 7 p.m.

Friday, May 20

Tampa Berkeley Prep at Bayshore, 7:30 p.m.

Tampa Carrollwood Day School at Cardinal Mooney, 7 p.m.

Out-of-Door Academy at St. Petersburg Keswick, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, May 27

North Port at Lakewood Ranch, 7:30 p.m.

St. Petersburg Gibbs at Manatee, 7:30 p.m.

Booker at Palmetto, 7 p.m.

Venice at Southeast, 7:30 p.m.

NOTE: Saint Stephen's is not playing a spring game, and Braden River heads back to Raymond James Stadium on 10 a.m. Saturday, May 21 for the Pirate Bowl.

Prep softball: Regional pairings

(logo from FHSAA.org)Listed below are the area pairings for Tuesday's regional softball quarterfinals. Winners advance to Friday's semifinals, with sites and times to be determined.
Games begin at 7 p.m.

CLASS 4A-Region 3
Braden River at Dover Strawberry Crest
Tampa Jefferson at Lakewood Ranch
CLASS 3A-Region 3
Cardinal Mooney at LaBelle
Class 1A-Region 2
Bradenton Christian receives a bye and will face either Hernando Christian Academy or Winter Haven All Saints Academy in a semifinal Friday.

Prep baseball: Local district pairings

(logo from FHSAA.org)

Posteason baseball begins next week with the district tournaments, and the local pairings are listed below.

The top two teams in each district advance to the regional tournament, which begins Tuesday, May 3.

Seeds are in parentheses.

CLASS 5A-DISTRICT 10
Semifinals - (5)Port Charlotte/(4) Naples Gulf Coast winner at (1) Manatee, 7 p.m. Tuesday

Championship - 7 p.m. Thursday at highest seed.

CLASS 4A-DISTRICT 10

Quarterfinals - (5) St. Petersburg Lakewood at (4) Palmetto 7 p.m. Tuesday; (6) St. Petersburg Dixie Hollins at (3) Braden River, 7 p.m. Tuesday; (7) Bayshore at (2) Lakewood Ranch, 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Semifinals - Lakewood/Palmetto winner at (1) Seminole Osceola, 7 p.m. Wednesday; Braden River/Dixie Hollins winner vs. Bayshore/Lakewood Ranch winnter, 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Championship - 7 p.m. Friday at highest seed.

CLASS 3A-DISTRICT 11 AT SOUTHEAST

Semifinals - (5) Booker/(4) Arcadia DeSoto winner vs. (1) Cardinal Mooney, 4:30 p.m., Tuesday; (3) Wauchula Hardee vs. (2) Southeast, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

Championship - 7 p.m. Thursday

CLASS 2A-DISTRICT 11 AT OUT-OF-DOOR ACADEMY

Semifinals - (3) Saint Stephen's vs. (2) Out-of-Door Academy, 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Championship - 7 p.m. Thursday.

CLASS 1A-DISTRICT 10 AT SARASOTA CHRISTIAN

Semifinals - (3) Sarasota Christian vs. (2) Manatee HEAT, 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Championship - 7 p.m. Thursday.

CLASS 1A-DISTRICT 8 AT SEFFNER CHRISTIAN

Semifinals - (3) Seffner Christian vs. (2) Bradenton Christian, 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Championship - 7 p.m. Thursday.

Football: Finals to stay in Citrus Bowl

The road to a state football championship still runs to Orlando.
Or, it will for the next three years.
The Florida High School Athletic Association announced Friday the state football finals will remain at the Citrus Bowl for the next three years.
St. Petersburg (Tropicana Field) and Miami (Sun Life Stadium) also bid to host the finals, but the FHSAA decided to stay in central Florida.
The Citrus Bowl has hosted the finals for the last four years.

Bayshore, Lakewood Ranch and Southeast among academic team leaders

Seven of Lakewood Ranch's athletic teams were ranked in the Florida High School Athletic Association's team champion awards program for the spring.
The award is based on each team's cumulative grade-point average.
The Mustangs girls Class 3A track and field team (3.661 grade-point average) and Class 2A boys weightlifting (3.353) will receive a plaque for finishing first in the state in their sports.
The school's baseball team was fourth(3.263), the softball team was third (3.476), the boys tennis team was fifth (3.504), the girls tennis team was second (3.731) and the boys track team was 14th (3.000)
Baseball and softball compete at Class 4A, while tennis and track are 3A.
Bayshore's baseball team was 10th in Class 4A (3.117) and Southeast's baseball team was fifth in 3A (3.260).

Pirates, Falcons are sportsmanship champs

Braden River and Saint Stephen's were among the schools selected for the 2009-10 Florida High School Athletic Association/Fred E. Rozelle Sportsmanship Awards on Wednesday.
Saint Stephen's was named the overall winner in Class 2A and Braden River earned the honor in Class 4A.
The seven classifications were divided into four sections, with the overall winner chosen out of that pool of sectional champs.
The Falcons and Pirates - the Section 3 winner - receive $2,500 and a plaque for winning the overall award. Sectional winners were given $500 and a plaque.
Schools are judged on programs and activities within the school and community that promote sportsmanship, the number and type of unsportsmanlike ejections and the number and type of exceptional sportsmanship reports.
A selection committee reviews the nominees and chooses the winner.
Rozelle is the emeritus commissioner of the FHSAA who worked as the association's executive secretary and commissioner from 1980-91.