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Kevin Merrell, a former standout on Steinbrenner High School’s baseball team and current shortstop on the University of South Florida’s baseball team, has been named a first team All-American Athletic Conference selection by the conference’s coaches. Merrell, a sophomore, leads USF in batting average (.309) and on-base percentage (.405), and is third on the team in stolen bases (16). Merrell was a four-year letter winner at Steinbrenner, and batted .462 during his senior year. He was also a standout track athlete and currently holds the school’s 100-meter dash record at 10.6 seconds, which he set in 2014.

The Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) Foundation has announced the availability of grants of up to $500 per school to Student Angler Federation (SAF)-affiliated high school fishing clubs in Florida. The grants are aimed at establishing new clubs or expanding clubs.

The grants can be used by school teams or clubs to pay SAF dues for participating students, cover the cost of running team-sponsored tournaments, purchase student jerseys or other club costs. The initiative seeks to help recruit new anglers, retain existing anglers and reactivate former anglers.

The Florida High School Fishing Grant application is available at FLWFishing.com/Foundation.

For information, contact Dave Washburn by emailing , or call (270) 252-1607.

Zephyrhills High School basketball standout Jeremy Oppenheimer has signed to play college basketball with Southeastern University in Lakeland, in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

The 6-foot-2 senior led the Bulldogs in scoring (22.6 points per game), rebounding (8.2 rebounds per game), assists (5.4 assists per game) and steals (4.8 steals per game) last season, helping to guide Zephyrhills (27-5) to the Class 6A state semifinals. The team, which lost to Poinciana High in February on a score of 70 to 52, had not made an appearance at the state semifinals since 1966.

“Jeremy’s a very good player, and he was a very good on-court presence,” former Zephyrhills coach Alan Reed said after the 2015-2016 season. “He scored a lot of points, but a lot of times he distributed the ball.”

The now-retired Reed said he was surprised Oppenheimer didn’t receive more college looks, but acknowledged his former star player needed to add size and explosiveness to succeed at the next level.

“I think he’s got to get a little more physically stronger,” Reed said. “I think he’s got some things to work on, basically his physical strength and his quickness are two things he needs to improve a little bit.”

The Sunshine Athletic Conference (SAC) East Division softball teams were recently selected by the conference’s coaches:

East Division
Player of the year: Shannon Saile, senior, Land O’ Lakes

Coach of the year: Mitch Wilkins, Land O’ Lakes

First team
P Shannon Saile, senior, Land O’ Lakes

C Kameron Aitken, junior, Wiregrass Ranch

INF Tia Williams, sophomore, Land O’ Lakes

INF Gianna Basilone, senior, Sunlake

INF Brianna Lindner, sophomore, Land O’ Lakes

INF Ashley Nickisher, freshman, Wesley Chapel

OF Ashley Smith, sophomore, Land O’ Lakes

OF Kacie Huber, sophomore, Pasco

OF Dana Mumaw, junior, Wesley Chapel

UTILITY/DH Shelby Lansing, junior, Sunlake

Second team
P Mariah Melendez, sophomore, Sunlake

C Tayler Holt, senior, Land O’ Lakes

INF Cassidy Roberts, senior, Sunlake

INF Jordyn Kadlub, freshman, Pasco

INF Kacie Lemanski, sophomore, Wiregrass Ranch

IF Tylah Remaley, senior, Wiregrass Ranch

OF Jessie McCallister, senior, Land O’ Lakes

OF Jaime Valenta, junior, Wiregrass Ranch

OF Samantha Hiley, junior, Wiregrass Ranch

Utility/DH Logan Coward, freshman, Pasco

Saint Leo junior first baseman Troy Sieber was one of 40 Division II baseball players named as a semifinalist for the 2016 D2 Baseball News Tino Martinez Award, which recognizes the national player of the year in Division II baseball.

As of May 18, Sieber leads the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) with a .457 batting average, which ranks sixth among Division II leaders. The New Jersey native also ranks second in all of Division II with a .553 on base percentage, and is among the SSC’s top five in slugging percentage (.873, 2nd), runs scored (68, 2nd), runs batted in (55, T-5th), hits (79, T-3rd), and home runs (16, 3rd).

The winner of the 2016 Tino Martinez Award will be named on June 6, following the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship in Cary, North Carolina. The award is named after former University of Tampa player, United States Olympian, first-round MLB draft pick, and MLB All-Star Tino Martinez. A three-time All-American, Martinez still holds several Tampa records and led the Spartans to national championships in 1986 and 1987. He was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013.

Registration is open until May 26 for the Our Lady of the Rosary (OLOR) and Saint Tim’s Catholic Church’s inaugural Basketball League. There will be a boys and girls league, for players age 5 to 18, as well as an adult league for those 18 and older. The season runs from June 11 to July 31. All games will be played on Saturdays at the St. John Paul II Youth Center, at 17520 Lakeshore Road in Lutz. To register, visit OLORSports.org. For additional information, contact Patrick Poland at (813) 484-8621 or .

Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School junior Owen Clanahan, far left, took first place in the Class A 300 meter hurdles in 38.65 seconds at the Florida High School Athletic Association state track and field championships on May 7 at IMG Academy in Bradenton. The Dade City resident also took fifth place in the Class A 200 meters (22.43).

Both Gaither and Steinbrenner high schools’ baseball teams have advanced to the Florida High School Athletic Association state semifinals for Class 7A and Class 8A, respectively. Gaither (18-9) will face Miami Belen Jesuit (20-12) on May 19 at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, while Steinbrenner (25-5) will face Westland Hialeah (22-11) on May 20. To reach the “Final Four” in the state bracket for their respective class divisions, Gaither defeated Melbourne 5-3, and Steinbrenner shut out East Lake 3-0 back on May 10. Gaither is on an eight-game winning streak, while Steinbrenner has won 12 in a row.