Prep football: Manatee's Lauro expects to play Friday

photo by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie

Manatee wide receiver/running back Anthony Lauro said he will probably a play of quarter of Friday's spring game against St. Petersburg Gibbs.
Lauro, a rising senior, underwent knee surgery following December's Class 7A state championship game. He practiced for the first time Monday and said he felt fine.
"I've still got my speed and all that," said Lauro, his right knee wrapped in ice. "I'll be 100 percent."
Lauro rushed for 631 yards and had 607 yards receiving while totaling 14 touchdowns last season for the Canes. He should get more time at running back this year now that Leon Allen, the team's leading rusher last year, has graduated.
Lauro said he put on roughly 20 pounds of muscle in anticipation of carrying the ball and now weights about 200 pounds.
He has received scholarship offers from Western Kentucky and Akron, and other schools such as Purdue and Georgia Tech have shown interest.

Prep baseball: Manatee, Ranch fall to eventual state champs

photo by Paul Videla

Manatee and Lakewood Ranch can say they lost to the best.
The Hurricanes and Mustangs were eliminated from their respective regional and state baseball tournaments by teams that eventually won state titles.
Venice, which knocked Manatee out of the Class 7A-Region 3 semifinals, defeated Brandon 4-2 on Sunday to claim the Class 7A state championship.
Manatee beat Venice three times in five tries and won the District 11 title at the Indians' expense. But Venice scored a win when it counted the most and the program has a baseball state championship for the second time since 2007.
The Mustangs' furious rally against Archbishop McCarthy was cut short during a Class 6A state semifinal, and McCarthy defeated Pace 4-3 the next day to clinch title.
It was third consecutive state championship for the Mavericks.
Lakewood Ranch hadn't reached the state baseball final four since the 2003 edition won the school's first team baseball championship.
Nationally-ranked Tampa Jesuit, which beat Bayshore in the opening round of the Class 5A-Region 3 tournament, lost in the state semifinals to Plantation American Heritage.

Prep baseball: Getting to know Archbishop McCarthy

photo by Paul Videla

Lakewood Ranch's baseball team is back in the final four for the first time since the 2003 team's run to the state championship.
Here is a look at the Archbishop McCarthy Mavericks, the Mustangs' opponents Thursday in a 6A state semifinal at Digital Domain Park.
For more on the Mavericks, including an interview with head coach Rich Bielski, check out Tuesday's edition of The Bradenton Herald.

RECORD: 25-4-1
HEAD COACH: Rich Bielski, fourth year at school (106-16-1); 325-13-1 overall.
ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR: Won the District 15 title; defeated Hialeah-Miami Lakes in regional quarterfinal, Miami Belen Jesuit Prep in regional semifinal and Naples in Region 4 championship game.
HITTING LEADERS: Nick Basto (.345, 38 RBIs, three home runs, seven doubles, four triples); Jason Morozowski (.466, 41 hits, 25 RBIs); Brandon Roberts (.384, 23 RBIs, 27 runs, 33 hits).
PITCHING LEADERS: Andre Martinez (10-1, 0.93 ERA, 97 strikeouts, 60 IP); Nick Travieso (7-1, 0.47 ERA, 94 strikeouts, 54 1/3 IP); Brian Gonzalez (3 saves, 0.78 ERA, 27 strikeouts, 18 IP).
OF NOTE: The Mavericks went  29-3 last season and won their second consecutive state championship. They also finished the year ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today...Bielski, who led Hialeah to back-to-back state championships in 2000-01, was named USA Today's 2011 Coach of the Year...Former major-leaguer Alex Fernandez is an assistant coach at Archbishop McCarthy. His son, Alex Jr., graduated from the school last year and is now pitching for the University of Miami...Mavericks pitchers have posted a 1.21 ERA and have totaled 13 shutouts this year.

Prep baseball: Getting to know Winter Haven

photo by Jim Ross/Canadian Press

In the final non-football prep event to be played in Manatee County this spring, Lakewood Ranch's baseball team hosts Winter Haven on 7 p.m. Friday in the Class 6A-Region 3 championship game.
The winner heads to the Class 6A state final four, which begins next Thursday at Digital Domain Park in Port St. Lucie.
The baseball Mustangs (23-6) won Lakewood Ranch's first state team title in 2003, and are currently ranked second in Class 6A by MaxPreps.
Here is a little info on Winter Haven (17-10), ranked 14th in 6A by MaxPreps.
The top-ranked team is Pace, which reached the Class 5A state final four last seasons and hosts Lake City Columbia on Friday in the Region 1 championship game.


HOW THEY GOT HERE: The Blue Devils won the District 9 title before beating Land O'Lakes, 4-3, in a regional quarterfinal. They won another one-run game Tuesday when they erased a 1-0, sixth-inning deficit and beat Tarpon Springs 2-1 with a run in the bottom of the seventh.
HISTORY: Winter Haven has never won a state baseball title but was a runner-up in 1949, '53, '04 and '05.
ON A ROLL: The Blue Devils have won seven straight and have allowed eight runs during the streak.
HE LOOKS FAMILIAR: According to newschief.com, former major-league Pat Borders, pictured to the right of Joe Carter, will become the team's head coach at the conclusion of this season. Borders is currently on staff as an assistant and has two sons on the team - Levi, a senior, and Luke, a junior.
A catcher, Borders appeared in 1,099 games during a 17-year career spent with the Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, California Angels, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins.
Borders was a career .253 hitter and  the MVP of the 1992 World Series, when the Blue Jays beat the Atlanta Braves.

Prep baseball: What's next for the Hurricanes?

Manatee is banking on guys such as Danny Lee, above, to keep the program moving forward next spring. Photo by Paul Videla

A season and an era ended Tuesday night at G.T. Bray, where Manatee's baseball team fell to Venice in a Class 7A-Region 3 semifinal.
It marked the final game in Hurricanes colors for guys such as Chase Sandberg, Correlle Prime, Garrett Waiters and twins Tyler and Trevor Beeman. That group was responsible for breathing life back into the Canes' baseball program, which reached the state final four last season for the first time in nearly 50 years.
So what's next?
Manatee will have some holes to full, but the cupboard won't be bare as Manatee preps for the 2013 season.
Lefty Scott Kelly went 3-2 this season and tossed 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief Tuesday. He has pitched behind Prime the past two seasons and could assume the ace role next year. Another junior, Tyler Souris, primarily played second base this season, but occasionally pitched and posted a 4.30 ERA in 27 2/3 innings while going 2-1 with two saves.
They will try and fill the void left by Prime, who won 10 games this year and 24 over the past three seasons.
Rightfielder Danny Lee, who transferred from Cardinal Mooney prior to this season, should be back next season after hitting .370 with nine RBIs and five doubles. Lee and classmates Danny Kerwin (catcher), Cord Sandberg (centerfielder) and Souris were in the starting lineup Tuesday and should return next fall.
Cord Sandberg, better known as the football team's star quarterback, drove in 17 runs and clubbed six doubles this season. Older brother Chase, who played shortstop, lead the team with 25 RBIs.
Tyler Beeman played left field and Trevor was the team's third baseman, while Waiters played first whenever Prime pitched.
Will their replacements do just was well?
Coach Dwayne Strong is ready to find out.
"We hope that they learned something. We've got a good nucleus coming back," said Strong, whose Canes have won back-to-back district title. "We've got some good young guys, and hopefully those young guys step up and fill some holes for us...Losing Correlle, that's pretty huge. And you lose the Beemans and you lose Chase in the middle, so you've got some holes to fill."

Prep basbeall: Mustangs ranked second in 6A by MaxPreps



photo by Paul Videla

MaxPreps thinks highly of Lakewood Ranch's baseball team.
The prep sports website has the Mustangs ranked second in its latest Class 6A state rankings, below only Pace.
The Mustangs (22-6) are ranked seventh overall in the state by MaxPreps and 70th in the county. Lakewood Ranch heads to Tampa to face King in a Region 3 semifinal Tuesday night.
MaxPreps ranks King eighth in 7A.
The area's other remaining baseball team, Manatee, is ranked 11th in Class 7A and 38th overall in the state.
The Hurricanes host Venice on Tuesday in a Region 3 semifinal Tuesday. It's the fifth meeting of season between the two teams, and though Manatee has won three of the four, the Indians are ranked first in 7A by MaxPreps.
Sarasota, which was 0-2 against Manatee this season, is ranked second.

Prep baseball: Manatee only local team to win Wednesday



photo by Grant Jefferies

 Correlle Prime turned in another gem Wednesday, pitching a three-hit shutout in Manatee's 3-0 win over Port St. Lucie in a Class 7A-Region 3 quarterfinal.
The Hurricanes host district rival Venice on Tuesday.
Manatee was the lone local team to win Wednesday, and here is how all the teams fared:

CLASS 7A-REGION 3
Manatee 3, Port St. Lucie 0
CLASS 5A-REGION 3
Tampa Jesuit 5, Bayshore 0
CLASS 3A-REGION 3
Clearwater Calvary Christian 8, Cardinal Mooney 2
St. Petersburg Catholic 6, Out-of-Door Academy 1

Lakewood Ranch hosts Tampa Sickles on Thursday in a Class 6A-Region 3 quarterfinal.