Prep baseball: Canes keep climbing MaxPreps' polls

(photo by Paul Videla)

The Hurricanes had plenty of reasons to celebrate during Saturday's 13-3 win over Tampa Gaither in a Class 5A-Region 3 semifinal, and have more reasons today thanks to MaxPreps.

The Canes, who head to Largo Pinellas Park on Friday for the Region 3 championship, are second in Class 5A and fourth overall according to the site's rankings, which were updated today.

Last week, the Hurricanes were fourth in the Class 5A and 11th overall.

Pace is ranked tops in 5A and third in the state, and plays Orange Park Fleming Island for the Region 1 title Friday.

MaxPreps also has Manatee 37th in the country after listing the Canes at 84th last week.

Prep football: Plenty of locals make all-state team

(logo from floridahsfootball.com)

Better late than never, right?

On Friday, Floriodahsfootball.com released the all-state football teams for the 2010 season.

Listed below are the locals who made the list.

Class 5A

MANATEE

First team

Quenton Bundrage, sr., WR

Quinton Pompey, sr., DL

Second team

Cord Sandberg, so., QB

Drakkar Wilson, sr., DL

Darius White, jr., LB

Third team

Mike Blakely, sr., RB

Nick Galati, sr., OL

Clinton Heaven, jr., DB

Nick Tankersley, sr., P

Honorable mention

Prince Matt, sr., OL

Class 3A

SOUTHEAST

First team

Desmond Blue, sr., LB

Second team

Boe Brand, sr., WR

Cameron Cox, sr., OL

Tevin Williams, sr., LB

Brian Poole, jr., DB

Class 2B

CARDINAL MOONEY

Honorable mention

Alex Nugent, sr., utility

Class 1B

BRADENTON CHRISTIAN

First team

Austin Dumas, sr., K

SAINT STEPHEN'S

First team

Adam Vining, jr., WR

Prep baseball: Mustangs, Noles out; Canes-Gaither know their opponent

(logo from FHSAA.org)

Lakewood Ranch and Southeast fell during Friday's regional semifinal games, while the winner of today's game between Manatee and Tampa Gaither knows where it will be next week.

The Mustangs lost a heartbreaker, falling 9-7 to Tampa Jesuit in a 4A-Region 3 semifinal on a walk-off grand slam by Max Beerman. Jesuit scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Lakewood Ranch finishes the season with a record of 24-7.

Down in Fort Myers, the Seminoles lost 7-3 to Bishop Verot in a 3A-Region 3 semifinal. Winners of their first district title in six years, the Noles end with a mark of 18-10.

Heavy rains pushed Manatee's game with Tampa Gaither to 1 p.m. today at G.T. Bray. The winner heads to Largo Pinellas Park next Friday for the Region 3 title game after the Patriots beat East Lake 2-0.

Pinellas Park is 13-14.

Prep baseball: Canes game postponed

Because of inclement weather, Manatee's Class 5A-Region 3 semifinal with host Tampa Gaither, scheduled for tonight, has been postponed.

The teams will play 1 p.m. Saturday at G.T. Bray.

Prep baseball: Regional semis today

Here are the pairings for today's regional semifinals. For an deeper look into these matchups, check out the capsules on bradenton.com or in Friday's edition of The Bradenton Herald.

All games begin at 7 p.m.

CLASS 5A-REGION 3

Tampa Gaither at Manatee

CLASS 4A-REGION 3

Lakewood Ranch at Tampa Jesuit

CLASS 3A-REGION 3

Southeast at Fort Myers Bishop Verot

Prep baseball: Where they rank

(from maxpreps.com)

All three Manatee County baseball teams playing in Friday's regional semifinals moved up in MaxPreps' state baseball rankings.

Manatee is ranked the highest in the overall rankings, going from No. 30 to No. 11 following its 15-5 win over Tampa King during Tuesday's Class 5A-Region 3 quarterfinals. Ranked 84th in the nation and 4th in Class 5A by MaxPreps, the Canes host Tampa Gaither 7 p.m. Friday in a semifinal.

Not far from Manatee is Lakewood Ranch, ranked 16th overall in the state following its 3-0 win over Tampa Jefferson on Tuesday. MaxPreps ranks the Mustangs 2nd in Class 4A, a slot above Tampa Jesuit, which hosts Lakewood Ranch on Friday in a Region 3 semifinal.

The Mustangs are 116th in the national rankings.

Southeast moved into the top 100 to No. 96 in the state with Tuesday's 5-3 win over Cape Coral Island Coast. The Seminoles are 13th in the state in Class 3A, and head to Fort Myers on Friday to face Bishop Verot in a Region 3 semifinal.

Bishop Verot is ranked second in Class 3A, 11th overall in the state and 89th nationally by MaxPreps.

Prep volleyball: Cothron out at Saint Stephen's

(photo from saintstephens.org) Nancy Cothron has not been asked back to coach volleyball or teach physical education next year at Saint Stephen's.
Cothron has been a coach and a teacher at Saint Stephen's for 16 years and led the program to its first district title in October.
For more on this story, check out Friday's edition of The Bradenton Herald.