Palm Harbor University High School

FACA taps four locals for all-star softball game

palmharbor — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:46:06 +0000

The FACA all-star softball classic is this weekend at Ocala Forest. On Friday, the East and West all-stars square off at 6:30, followed by the North vs. the South at 8. The winners meet Saturday at 11:30 in the championship; the consolation game... Read more

Region softball: No such thing as an insurmountable deficit to Durant

palmharbor — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:41:59 +0000

Euphoria traveled a well-worn path Friday night, with bliss and exhilaration in tow.

After originating at the softball field at Durant High’s Ron Frost Athletic Complex, they wafted down Turkey Creek Road, hung a left on State Road 60 and exited at the Valrico Beef ‘O’ Brady’s. There, they lingered for what seemed like hours.

The Durant softball family, purveyor of these surreal states of mind, couldn’t let them go.

“Oh my, Beef’s was amazing,” said senior leadoff hitter Jordan “JoJo” LaFave, who elicited the latest convoy of jubilation with a walk-off eighth-inning home run in Friday’s 6-5 region semifinal win over Palm Harbor University.

“I didn’t even leave until after the store actually closed. They had to kick us out. I mean, they turned off all the televisions, like, hinting to us it was time to get out.”

This chaotic, curly-fried scenario — LaFave …

Several locals on Miss Softball ballot

palmharbor — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:41:57 +0000

Several bay area standouts have earned spots on the initial Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Softball and Coach of the Year ballot.

Finalists are selected in voting among statewide coaches and media members. The players and coaches of the year for each classification will be announced next week; the overall Miss Softball and Coach of the Year will be announced following the state tournament that ends May 14.

The local player nominees, with their respective individual statistics as listed on the ballot:

3B Sam McCloskey, Sr., Palm Harbor University (8A): .650, 11 HR, 60 RBI
C Jordan Alexander, Sr., Bloomingdale (8A): .493, 12 doubles, 22 RBI
P/1B Paige Davis, Jr., Durant (8A): 17-4, 2.61 ERA
C/IF Hailee Keisling, Jr., Countryside (7A): .546, 28 RBI
SS Bianka Bell, Sr., Chamberlain (7A): .634, 9 HR
P Lexy Adams, Sr., Springstead (6A): 21-4, 206 strikeouts
OF/IF Christina Linton, Jr., Sickles …

Region softball roundup: Durant’s latest comeback defies all odds

palmharbor — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 13:21:30 +0000

PLANT CITY — It fell behind 11-0 and came back to win a district title, and if you thought that was crazy …

The very next game, a dropped foul ball with two out gave Paige Davis another swing, which she used to hit a walkoff home run, and if you thought that was amazing …

Friday night a girl hit her first home run since she was 10 in the bottom of the seventh and a hitter mired in a 1-for-17 slump hit another one in the eighth inning and, yeah, it’s starting to sound like we’re just making stuff up now, doesn’t it?

But it’s all real.

Slumping leadoff hitter JoJo Lafave drove a first-pitch winning home run over the rightfield fence to give Durant’s confounding Cougars another remarkable comeback victory, 6-5 over Palm Harbor University in the Class 8A region semifinals.

Lafave’s home run …

District baseball roundup: No-hitter ends PHU’s season

palmharbor — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:41:11 +0000

PALM HARBOR — Sarasota Riverview’s Sean Labsan brought Palm Harbor University’s season to an abrupt end Tuesday. Not only did Labsan hit the first grand slam of his life, he threw a no-hitter to single-handedly help the Rams to a 10-0 win in the Class 8A, District 8 semifinal.

Riverview (10-14) will play East Lake for the district championship at 6 p.m. Thursday at Riverview. The Eagles defeated North Port 8-3.

“It was a pretty good day,” said Labsan, who lost the first time he faced PHU this season. “I’ve never hit a grand slam before. And I was just trying to keep throwing strikes. There were some times where I had to settle down because I was overthrowing.”

While Labsan was unhittable, he and his teammates were busy getting hits at the plate. The Rams scored two runs in the first inning when Labsan doubled home …

Region softball roundup: Palm Harbor University regroups after Alonso rally

palmharbor — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:41:07 +0000

PALM HARBOR — Through two innings Tuesday, everything seemed to go right for Palm Harbor University.

The Hurricanes were getting hits and scoring runs in bunches. In the first inning, they strung together six straight hits, all singles, scoring six runs. They followed with four hits, the biggest a three-run homer by Samantha McCloskey to go up 9-0.

The Class 8A region quarterfinal seemed headed for a rout. But PHU needed all of those runs after a furious rally by Alonso made it a one-run game. It wasn’t until the Hurricanes added five runs in the sixth that they were able to escape with a 14-8 victory.

“It was a win, but it wasn’t a happy win,” McCloskey said. “We let our guard down and we can’t do that again if we want to go to states.”

In the third inning, Ravens coach Robin Kopp had freshman pitcher …

District softball roundup: Hurricanes’ bats have plenty of pop

palmharbor — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 04:42:49 +0000

PALM HARBOR — If Palm Harbor University keeps playing like it did Thursday in the Class 8A, District 8 final against East Lake, the Hurricanes could put one last championship ring on coach Chuck Poetter’s finger.

PHU exploded for 17 hits, including two home runs by Samantha McCloskey, in a 13-2 five-inning mercy-rule win over the Eagles.

“We hit nearly .500 as a team,” said Poetter, who announced earlier in the year that he would step down after this season. He won state titles in 1999, 2004 and ’05. “But we weren’t very sharp defensively. This is the fourth time now that we’ve beat them and it’s kind of hard to stay focused.”

If the Hurricanes weren’t focused to start the game, they were after the top of the second inning. East Lake’s Emma Hvozdovich blasted a two-run home run to give the Eagles a …

District softball: East Lake, PHU advance in 8A

palmharbor — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:19:03 +0000

Bob Putnam, Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 18, 2012

After losing twice to Sarasota Riverview in the regular season, East Lake coach Mike Estes wanted his hitters to make contact against Rams pitcher Corrine Jenkins in Tuesday’s Class 8A, District 8 semifinals.

The visiting Eagles did that, getting 10 hits and striking out just five times against Jenkins in an 8-1 victory.

East Lake (18-7) will face host Palm Harbor University (24-2) in Thursday’s final at 4. The Hurricanes advanced with a 13-3 win over North Port in the other semifinal.

“We worked on our offense in practice the last few days,” Estes said. “The biggest thing is we made contact and put pressure on their defense. The last time we played we had 17 strikeouts and we cut down on that a lot this time.”

Brittnay Estes, Makayla Powers and Sarah Schutz each had two hits and …