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Saint Leo baseball head coach Rick O’ Dette has announced the team’s 50-game schedule for 2019, which includes 26 home contests at Thomas B. Southard Stadium.

First pitch for the 2019 season is scheduled for 1 p.m., Feb. 2, as the Lions host Alabama-Huntsville (UAH) for a three-game opening weekend series. Saint Leo will play a total of eight home series and two standalone nonconference contests. Following UAH, Lee (Feb. 8-9), Valdosta State (Feb. 19), Lynn (Feb. 22-23), Tiffin (March 8-10), Purdue Northwest (March 12), Tampa (March 15-16), Palm Beach Atlantic (March 29-30), Florida Tech (April 18-19) and Florida Southern (May 2-3) will all visit Saint Leo.

The Lions’ first road test will come Feb. 16-17, as Saint Leo travels to 2018 NCAA National Championship Runner-up Columbus State for a three-game set. Lynn marks the team’s first Sunshine State Conference (SSC) opponent on Feb. 22-23 at home, while Barry is the first road SSC opponent the following weekend, March 1-2.

The Lions posted a 38-11 record in O’ Dette’s first season at the helm and now look to break into the NCAA postseason in year two with a schedule that features four opponents ranked in the final National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association Top-25 poll.

Saint Leo baseball 2019 home schedule

Feb. 2: Alabama-Huntsville (doubleheader, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.)

Feb. 3: Alabama-Huntsville (1 p.m.)

Feb. 8: Lee (6 p.m.)

Feb. 9: Lee (doubleheader, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.)

Feb. 19: Valdosta State (5 p.m.)

Feb. 22: Lynn (6 p.m.)

Feb. 23: Lynn (doubleheader, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.)

March 8: Tiffin (6 p.m.)

March 9: Tiffin (3 p.m.)

March 10: Tiffin (1 p.m.)

March 12: Purdue Northwest (6 p.m.)

March 15: Tampa (6 p.m.)

March 16: Tampa (doubleheader, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.)

March 29: Palm Beach Atlantic (6 p.m.)

March 30: Palm Beach Atlantic (doubleheader, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.)

April 18: Florida Tech (6 p.m.)

April 19: Florida Tech (doubleheader, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.)

May 2: Florida Southern (6 p.m.)

May 3: Florida Southern (doubleheader, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.)

Land O’ Lakes High School senior left-handed pitcher Callie Turner has signed to play collegiate softball at Division I University of Tennessee.

One of the state’s top arms, Turner was named 2018 Miracle Sports Class 6A Player of the Year and Class 6A Pitcher of Year (which she also won in 2017).

Turner last season went 17-6, posting a 0.78 earned run average and 252 strikeouts in 153.1 innings pitched. She also tallied 20 complete games, including one no-hitter and six shutouts.

As a sophomore in 2017, Turner helped guide the Gators to its first fast-pitch state title, in Class 6A. That season, Turner went 17-2 with a 0.21 earned run average and 249 strikeouts in 132.2 innings pitched, also registering 18 complete games, 10 shutouts and four no-hitters.

She’s also been a .300 hitter the past two seasons.

Softball recruiting website FloSoftball.com ranks Turner as the nation’s No. 14 prospect for the 2019 recruiting class.

Nine senior athletes from schools in The Laker/Lutz News coverage area were recently named finalists for the Triple Impact Competitor Scholarship through the Positive Coaching Alliance-Tampa Bay:

• Estefania Acosta — Land O’ Lakes High School
• Jessica Amis — Wiregrass Ranch High School
• Riddhi Banerjee — Steinbrenner High School
• Alyssa Ferrante Gennaro — Gaither High School
• Shea Forgas — Sunlake High School
• Adam Hahn — Land O’ Lakes High School
• Adyson Harvey — Gaither High School
• Jameson Miller — Steinbrenner High School
• Esel Ro — Freedom High School

The Triple Impact Competitor Scholarship seeks to salute student-athletes who have “demonstrated a commitment to improving themselves, their teammates and their sport as a whole,” according to a release.

Applicants had to submit essays and receive at least three recommendations from coaches, teachers or administrators.

A total of 44 Tampa Bay-area student-athletes from the high school class of 2019 were named finalists for the Triple-Impact Competitor, which is presented by Sagicor Life Insurance Company. The Positive Coaching Alliance nationally received more than 3,000 applications for Triple-Impact Competitor scholarships from the Class of 2019.

Next, each finalist will be interviewed by selection committee members.

Scholarship winners will be named at a Tampa Bay Rays game during the 2019 season.

The Wharton High School boys and girls varsity cross-country teams each had strong showings at the North Port Invitational on Sept. 22, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

The boys team is currently ranked fourth in the Class 4A state rankings, while the girls are ranked 10th.

Their next meet is the Hillsborough County Championships on Oct. 5 at Idlewild Baptist Church.

Wharton’s top finishers North Port

Boys

• Tre Rivers — 12th place (16:26)
• Josue Reyes — 23rd (16:48)
• Anthony Stephens — 32nd (17:06)
• Jared Hammill — 37th (17:09)
• Thomas Walter — 68th (17:51)

Girls

• Nicolina Otero — 14th place (19:43)
• Nia Rivers — 26th (20:23)
• Amanda Brake — 31st ( 20:33)
• Michelle Sullivan — 62nd (21:22)
• Callie Zack — 64th (21:25)

 

Jim Felice, left, and Joe Felice teamed to win first place at the South Pasco Bassmasters’ (SPBM) September tournament, hauling in five bass for a total weight of 23.47 pounds on the Lake Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. That also included catching the tournament’s biggest bass, at 6.28 pounds. The duo caught their fish flipping a 1-ounce jig in the Kissimmee grass and cattails. The next tournament is Oct. 20 at Lake Weir. For information, visit SouthPascoBassmasters.com.

Cypress Creek Middle-High senior infielder Payton Hudson has verbally committed to play softball at Pasco-Hernando State College. Hudson posted a .455 batting average last season and earned several postseason accolades, including Miracle Sports First Team All State (Class 5A) and All-Sunshine Athletic Conference East Second Team.

On Aug. 21, the Wharton High boys cross-country team won the Central Hills Divisional 5K at King High (3.1-mile) with a perfect score of 15 — taking the first five places in the meet. It marks the first time in program history the Wharton boys varsity cross-country team has recorded a perfect score at a meet, according to head coach Kyle LoJacono.

Individual times and places for Wharton runners:

-Senior Tre Rivers (1st place)—17:17

-Senior Anthony Stephens (2nd place)—17:39

-Sophomore Jared Hammill (3rd place)— 17:45

-Senior Josue Reyes (4th place)—18:19

-Sophomore Thomas Walter (5th place)—18:28

-Junior Jackson Blanchard (7th place)—18:48

-Senior Nash Robinson (9th place)—19:57

Tom Moore, left, and Scott May teamed to win first place at the South Pasco Bassmasters’ (SPBM) August tournament, hauling in five bass for a total weight of 17.79 pounds on the Lake Harris Chain of Lakes. Moore and May caught the haul using fishing flukes and senkos in canals with moving water. The duo also won last month’s tournament on Lake Parker. The next tournament is Sept. 15 on the Kissimmee Chain. For information, visit SouthPascoBassmasters.com.