Prep football: Kicking camp coming to Manatee

(photos from prokicker.com)

Hawkins Stadium will play host to Prokicker.com's two-day kicking academy this weekend. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Washington Redskins kicker Graham Gano and Miami Dolphins punter Brandon Fields are scheduled to work the camp, which is open to all ages and includes tutorials in kicking, punting and long-snapping.

For more information, check out the camp's website.

Prep baseball: Regional semifinal matchups

(photo by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie)

Zack Larson and the Lakewood Ranch Mustangs are one of three area baseball teams gearing up for Friday's regional semifinals.

Lakewood Ranch, behind the pitching of Seth McGarry, beat host Tampa Jefferson 3-0 during Tuesday's Class 4A-Region 3 quarterfinal. The Mustangs head to Tampa again Friday, this time to play Jesuit, which defeated Seminole Osceola on Tuesday.

Osceola beat Lakewood Ranch during last Friday's District 10 final.

In Class 5A, Manatee rolled past Tampa King, 15-5, in a Region 3 quarterfinal at G.T. Bray. The Hurricanes scored seven runs in the sixth to trigger the 10-run mercy rule.

The Canes stay home Friday to play Tampa Gaither, a 1-0 winner over Venice on Tuesday.

In Class 3A, Southeast defeated Cape Coral Island Coast 5-3. The Seminoles head south Friday to face Fort Myers Bishop Verot, which scored a 3-0 win over Cardinal Mooney.

The matchups:

CLASS 5A-REGION 3

Tampa Gaither at Manatee

CLASSS 4A-REGION 3

Lakewood Ranch at Tampa Jesuit

CLASS 3A-REGION 3

Southeast at Fort Myers Bishop Verot

Prep baseball: Regional quarterfinals Tuesday

(photo by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie)
Southeast baseball star Michael Suchy will be all smiles again tonight if his host Seminoles can get past Cape Coral Island Coast in a Class 3A-Region 3 quarterfinal at 7.
District champions for the first time since 2005, the Noles are one of six area teams in action tonight and one of three who are home.
Listed below are the matchups. All games are at 7 unless otherwise noted.

CLASS 5A-REGION 3
Who: Tampa King at Manatee
Up next: Winner faces either Venice or Tampa Gaither
Of note: This is a rematch of last year's quarterfinal, which King won 3-2 en route to a trip to the Class 5A final four...Manatee (19-8) rallied from a 5-0 deficit (against Gulf Coast) and a 3-0 deficit (against Venice) to claim its first district title since 2002...After allowing five runs in the third inning of a district semifinal, Canes pitcher Correlle Prime allowed one hit and three baserunners over his next five innings of work. Prime earned the win in the semifinal and picked up the save in the championship game...Junior Keon Barnum is batting .490 with five home runs and 25 RBIs for King (17-9) while posting a .662 on-base percentage and nine steals in 10 chances.

CLASS 4A-REGION 3
Who: Lakewood Ranch at Tampa Jefferson
Up next: Winner faces either Tampa Jesuit or Seminole Osceola
Of note: Yet another rematch for an area team, though this time, the Mustangs (23-6) are hoping for the same result after they scored an upset last spring in Hillsborough County...Ranch's Andrew McNett went 7-f0r-9 in the district tournament, reaching base in nine of 11 plate appearences...Sophomore Brett Hanewich had a strong district slate, too, striking out 10 and allowing five hits in seven innings. He earned the win in the quarterfinal against Bayshore and took the loss in relief during the championship agame againt Seminole Osceola...Jefferson (22-4) has received 33 RBIs in just 71 at-bats from Corbin Olmstead. The junior is also stellar on the mound, where he owns a 6-1 mark. He tossed a complete game against Jesuit in the District 9 final, striking out 12 and walking two.

CLASS 3A-REGION 3
Who: Cape Coral Island Coast at Southeast
Up next: Winner faces either Fort Myers Bishop Verot or Cardinal Mooney
Of note: The Seminoles (17-9) won their first district title in six years behind the pitching of Andy Ramirez, whose complete-game shutout last Thursday was enough to get Southeast past top-seeded Cardinal Mooney...Cameron Cox had a team-best 28 RBIs during the regular season, and his four home runs tied for the team lead with Michael Suchy and Matt Fenske...Joseph Muldoon led the team in hits (35) and batting (.432)...Island Coast (20-6) has seven players with at least 14 RBIs, including Kameron Gallinger, who leads the team in triples (four), runs (28) and hits (33).
Who: Cardinal Mooney at Fort Myers Bishop Verot
Up next: Winner faces either Cape Coral Island Coast or Southeast
Of note: The Cougars' loss to Southeast in the District 11 final was just their second in 13 games...Mooney (20-6) went undefeated through district play, earning the top seed, before losing to the Noles...Bishop Verot (25-4) is paced by Florida commit Dan Vogelbach, who has hit 14 home runs and driven in 42 runs in just 74 at-bats. Not surprisingly, Vogelbach has drawn a team-high 21 walks.

CLASS 2A-REGION 3
Who: Community School of Naples at Out-of-Door Academy
Up next: Winner faces either St. Petersburg Shorecrest Prep or Fort Myers Evangelical Christian
Of note: The Thunder (15-8) upset top-seeded Shorecrest to win the District 11 title...Danny Brown leads CSN (16-10) in batting (.435), hits (37), runs (27), home runs (three) and doubles (11).

CLASS 1A-REGION 2
Who: Bradenton Christian at Winter Haven All Saints' Academy
Up next: Winner faces either Seffner Christian or Lakeland Sonrise Academy
Of note: The Panthers (7-11) will look to rebound after falling to Seffner Christian in the District 8 final despite hits from Michal Ananciz and Johnny Prince...BCS was a regional semifinalist last season, when they were eliminated by All Saints...The Saints (11-11) won the District 7 title even though John Carpenter, the team's coach for 14 years, resigned prior to the start of the postseason.

Prep football: Canes' other quarterbacks to get some work

(pagemoorephoto.com)

If you're waiting to see Cord Sandberg run with a ball, check out G.T. Bray's outfield. That's where Sandberg will be for at least one more night, patrolling centerfield for a Manatee baseball team set to host Tampa King in Tuesday's Class 5A-Region 3 quarterfinal.
Sandberg, of course, has become known for his work on the football field, especially after he won All-Area Offensive Player of the Year honors last year as a sophomore.
So while their triggerman is batting leadoff, the football Hurricanes will make due without him, allowing guys such as Zach Hill and Brodrick Yancy to get a chance to play with the varsity team. Hill quarterbacked Manatee's JV team last year. Yancy, whose brother, Brett, is a varsity defensive back, was the freshman team's quarterback.
Each player went 7-1.
"They both did a great job for us," said Manatee coach Joe Kinnan. "This gives them a chance to bring them along as backups."
Running back Mike Blakely, wide receiver Quenton Bundrage and quarterback Reed Carter filled out the rest of the depth charter behind Sandberg last season. But Blakely and Bundrage were seniors, and Kinnan said Carter is focusing on baseball.
That means Hill, a sophomore, could possibly make the team as a backup while Yancy could take over Hill's spot running the JV team.

Prep football: Tigers scrimmaging every Saturday

Palmetto's spring game with Booker isn't scheduled until May 27. So with only 20 practices permitted to each team, coach Dave Marino said the Tigers will take every Wednesday off and use Saturday to scrimmage.
Aside from breaking up the monotony of the spring, the Saturday scrimmages will give parents a chance to their sons in action.
The first two scrimmages will be controlled, Marino said. But the Saturday before hosting the Tornadoes, the Tigers will play their Red and Black Game, complete with referees and team colors.
"That will give all of our kids a chance to put on our uniform," Marino said, "and give them motivation when they're going through the hard work."
Optimism is rippling throughout Tigers camp, especially after last season's run to the Class 4A playoffs. And of Palmetto's four regular-season losses, three came to teams who played for regional titles - Manatee, Punta Gorda Charlotte, and Southeast.
The Tigers' other loss came to Class 5A Riverview.
"It was really a statement to our kids about what they really accomplished last year," Marino said. "You look at our record, and 6-4, it doesn't really stand out. But what we did was amazing."

Prep football poll: Which spring game has your attention?

(photo by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie) Prep Rally listed this year's spring football schedule April 25.
So now you tell us - what game are you looking forward to seeing?
Maybe it's Southeast and its ultra-talented defensive back, Brian Poole (pictured above), which hosts Venice. Or Manatee, fresh off its first perfect regular season since 1990, hosting St. Petersburg Gibbs.
Or how about Braden River and Palmetto, a pair of teams who rebounded in time to make the playoffs. The Pirates host Admiral Farragut and Palmetto welcomes Booker.
Head to Prep Rally and vote for your favorite spring game this season. All nine are listed, so choose whichever one you want. The poll is open until Friday, May 27, the date of the last area spring games.
And feel free to vote on Prep Rally's earlier poll, where we asked what team has the hardest schedule in 2011. This year's slate of games was announced April 1.

Prep sports: Random thoughts

(photo by Paul Videla)

Odds and ends from an interesting and exciting week of the prep baseball and softball playoff:

- Had Venice tied Thursday's Class 5A-District 10 baseball final, the Indians never would have seen Manatee ace Correlle Prime.

Instead, Prime pitched a scorless seventh inning to preserve the Canes' 6-5 win, giving Manatee its first district title since 2002. The save came two days after Prime threw a complete game against Naples Gulf Coast in a district semifinal.

Starting pitcher Scott Kelly gave way to Garrett Waiters in the fifth, who kept Venice at bay and allowed coach Dwayne Strong to go to his top arm.

"I didn't want (Prime) to go more than one. I was trying to get to the seventh," Strong said. "The only way I was going to throw him was if we had a lead. I wasn't going to send him out there if it was a tie game."

Manatee (19-8) hosts Tampa King at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a Region 3 quarterfinal at G.T. Bray.

- Having a rare first-round bye in the regional tournament may have been a bit of detriment to Bradenton Christian's softball team.

The Panthers, who did not have to play a quarterfinal, fell 8-2 to Winter All Saints Academy in Friday's Class 1A-Region 2 semifinal.

"I think maybe not having a game Tuesday hurt us," said coach Gene Brown.

BCS won the District 8 title April 21 and should have hosted a quarterfinal Tuesday. But because District 7 had just one team - All Saints - the Panthers received an automatic bump into the semifinal.

All Saints had to beat Hernando Christian, the District 8 runner-up, to reach Friday's game.

The long layoff may have sliced into BCS' momentum, especially in the wake of the district win, which came against a Hernando team that entered the day 25-0 while Brown was in the hospital recovering from emergency surgery on an intestine.

"I would have almost rather played Tuesday," said Brown, who was back coaching Friday. "But that's the way the ball bounces."

The Panthers finished the season 13-9.

- Braden River's softball team plays for a regional championship Tuesday at Naples Barron Collier. The Pirates softball, girls soccer, girls tennis and boys tennis teams have also played for regional titles, while Tevin Bryant (weightlifting) is the only athlete to win a state title for the school, which opened in 2005.

- Who and where are the area's baseball teams playing in Tuesday's regional openers? We have it here:

CLASS 5A-REGION 3

Tampa King at Manatee

CLASS 4A-REGION 3

Lakewood Ranch at Tampa Jefferson

CLASS 3A-REGION 3

Cape Coral Island Coast at Southeast

Cardinal Mooney at Fort Myers Bishop Verot

CLASS 2A-REGION 3

Community School of Naples at Out-of-Door Academy

CLASS 1A-REGION 2

Bradenton Christian at Winter Haven All Saints' Academy