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The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

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Check This Out

Wesley Chapel hoops products sign with colleges

June 30, 2020 By Kevin Weiss

A pair of Wesley Chapel High School girls basketball standouts will continue their hoops careers at the collegiate level.

Senior Kayla Grant, a 5-foot-10 guard, signed with Georgia Southwestern State University, an NCAA Division II program in Americus, Georgia.

Senior Ariana Heppenstall, a 5-foot-6 guard, signed with Bryn Athyn College, an NCAA Division III program in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.

Grant and Heppenstall helped guide the Wesley Chapel to a 26-4 mark and the Class 4A regional finals this past season. Grant led the Wildcats in scoring (14.2 points), rebounding (11.3), assists (2.1), steals (3.7) and blocks (1.2) per game. Heppenstall was the team’s second-leading scorer, averaging 12.1 points per game.

Kayla Grant (Courtesy of Wesley Chapel High School athletics department)
Ariana Heppenstall

Local baseball standouts ink pro contracts

June 30, 2020 By Kevin Weiss

Two athletes from The Laker/Lutz News coverage area will soon get to pursue their dreams of playing professional baseball, after agreeing to terms with their respective MLB organizations.

Steinbrenner High School and Florida State University product CJ Van Eyk signed a professional contract with the Toronto Blue Jays for $1.8 million, according to multiple reports.

The 21-year-old right-handed pitcher was selected by the Blue Jays in the second round (42nd overall) in the 2020 MLB Draft earlier this month.

Across three seasons at FSU, the 6-foot-1 Van Eyk logged an 18-5 win-loss record, 3.21 ERA, 1.274 WHIP and 225 strikeouts in 176.2 innings. Van Eyk won a state title and state player of the year honors at Steinbrenner.

Meanwhile, Wesley Chapel native Carson Ragsdale — a Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School and University of South Florida (USF) product — signed with the Philadelphia Phillies for $225,000, according to multiple reports.

The 22-year-old righty was selected by the Phillies in the fourth round (116th overall) of this year’s draft.

The 6-foot-8 Ragsdale transitioned to a starter’s role in his redshirt junior year at USF, after pitching out of the bullpen his freshman and sophomore seasons. He tallied a 3.75 ERA, 1.391 WHIP and 77 strikeouts in 50.1 career innings. (He missed the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery.)

The status of when and where Van Eyk and Ragsdale start their careers in the minor leagues remains up in the air due to uncertainty from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it might not be too long before fans catch a glimpse of these locals in the Tampa Bay area, as both the Blue Jays and Phillies have Single-A affiliates in Dunedin and Clearwater, respectively.

A solid haul

June 30, 2020 By Kevin Weiss

(Courtesy of John Medvid)

Roy Woodhouse, left, and Rick Schueller teamed up to win first place in the South Pasco Bassmasters (SPBM) June tournament on the Harris Chain of Lakes, hauling in five bass for a total weight of 17.72 pounds. The fishing duo caught their haul flipping shoreline grass using creature baits and stick worms. The next SPBM tournament is scheduled for July 18, at Lake Henderson. For information, visit SouthPascoBassmasters.com.

All-Star bound

June 23, 2020 By Kevin Weiss

Niko Spilotro (Courtesy of Toni Spilotro)

Pine View Middle School’s Niko Spilotro has been selected to represent Team Florida in the Future Stars Game, an all-star showcase featuring some of the top middle school football players in Florida and Georgia.

Spilotro, 13, is one of 44 players statewide on Team Florida’s seventh-grade team. They will face Team Georgia on July 4, at Clark College in Atlanta.

The 6-foot-2, 255-pound Spilotro is a starting offensive and defensive lineman at Pine View Middle. He’s also been invited to attend the FBU (Football University) Top Gun Showcase in Naples in mid-July.

PHSC basketball standouts sign

June 23, 2020 By Kevin Weiss

Daniel Derice (Courtesy of Pasco-Hernando State College athletics department)

A pair of former Pasco-Hernando State College (PHSC) men’s basketball standouts will continue their athletics careers at four-year universities.

Daniel Derice, a Wesley Chapel High product, signed with State University of New York at Oneonta, an NCAA Division III program in Oneonta, New York. The 6-foot-6 guard/forward led PHSC in scoring (13.5 points per game), rebounds (8.1 per game) and blocks (1.5 per game) in the 2019-2020 season.

Theo Williams

Theo Williams, also a Wesley Chapel High product, signed with Point University, an NAIA program in West Point, Georgia. The 6-foot-6 center graduated from PHSC in 2019. That season he averaged 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

Experience Florida’s Sports Coast garners media awards

June 16, 2020 By Kevin Weiss

Experience Florida’s Sports Coast (FSC), the tourism arm of Pasco County, won three Telly Awards, including gold for its scalloping promotional video, “Scalloping on FSC.”

The FSC’s video was created to promote the county’s newly reinstated recreational bay scallop season and will be used to actively market the 2020 scalloping season utilizing direct digital and social media marketing.

The tourism agency partnered with New Port Richey’s JL Video to produce the video, with local talent to showcase a family heading out for a fun underwater adventure with a Sports Coast fishing charter captain.

The Telly Awards is the premier award honoring video and television across all screens. It received over 12,000 entries from all 50 states and five continents.

The list of FSC’s awards and winning categories for 2020 is as follows:

  • Gold Telly Winner in Branded Content: Budget Under $100,000
  • Silver Telly Winner in Branded Content: Travel/Tourism
  • Bronze Telly Winner in Branded Content: Campaign: Promotional

Last year, FSC won bronze in the travel/tourism category for their rebrand, “Let’s Play.”

Local signings

June 9, 2020 By Kevin Weiss

Michael Haydak (Courtesy of Pasco-Hernando State College)

• Pasco-Hernando State College infielder Michael Haydak signed to play baseball at Virginia Commonwealth University, an NCAA Division I program in Richmond, Virginia. He led the Bobcats with a .473 batting average and .743 slugging percentage this season.
• Sunlake High wrestler Cayman Wiseman signed with Southeastern University, an NAIA program in Lakeland.
• Steinbrenner High track and field athlete Matthew Begg signed with Webber International University, an NAIA program in Babson Park.

Sunlake baseball product recognized for community service

June 9, 2020 By Kevin Weiss

Sunlake High baseball product Tommy Mace, now a junior pitcher at the University of Florida (UF), has been named to this year’s Southeastern Conference (SEC) Community Service Team; the announcement came from the SEC league office.

Sunlake High graduate Tommy Mace (File)

Mace volunteered in a second-grade classroom at Gainesville’s Littlewood Elementary School for 20-plus hours throughout the 2019-2020 season, assisting students with homework and other classroom activities.

Mace also volunteered at the Climb for Cancer Brandon Ling Memorial Sports Camp, UF’s annual sports camp for kids battling the disease. During the camp, Mace assisted with the modification of games and activities to ensure the safe participation of the children while providing a fun experience.
Additionally, Mace was a member of the university’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and participated in the Gators Leadership Experience — a pilot program which debuted last September with the goal of furthering the development of leaders during athletic seasons, in addition to providing the instruments and knowledge to groom future leaders.

On the mound, the 6-foot-6 righty posted a 3-0 record and a 1.67 earned run average across a team-high 27 innings this past season.

Mace graduated from Sunlake in 2017. He earned high school All-American honors and finished his three-year varsity career with a 19-6 record, 1.65 ERA and 196 strikeouts in 165.2 innings pitched.

PHSC student-athletes shine in classroom

June 9, 2020 By Kevin Weiss

Fifty-three Pasco-Hernando State College student-athletes achieved a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher during the 2019-2020 academic year. Of those athletes, 22 had GPAs over 3.5, including five with a perfect 4.0.

Local signing

June 2, 2020 By Kevin Weiss

(Courtesy of Sunlake High School athletics department)

Sunlake High senior multi-sport athlete Gianna Levy signed a track and field scholarship to NCAA Division I Tennessee State University in Nashville. Levy is a three-time state track and field qualifier, and holds the school’s 400-meter dash record. She also won an individual state title in girls weightlifting earlier this year.

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