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Sebring Opens Against East Lakeland

PITCHING, DEFENSE KEY TO AAA STATE TOURNEY RUN

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Sebring’s Rowdy Sebring fields a ball during a recent practice for this weekend’s Dixie AAA state tournament in Lakeland.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: July 4, 2008

SEBRING — Looking ahead is never a good idea for any team heading into the state tournament, but Sebring head coach Bobby Cannon couldn't help talking about the competition in the upcoming Dixie AAA (ages 9-10) state tournament at East Lakeland, which begins Saturday.

"I think we've got the best hitting team coming into the tournament from what I've seen," Cannon said. "We are solid up and down the order and our pitching is comparable to any of the other teams."

On the mound, Sebring has arms like Trey Frazier and Jason Cannon, who combined for a no-hitter against Clewiston in the District 8 tournament in June, while batters like Alex Gomez, Connor Cook and Jimmy Peck will look to pile on runs in bunches against the competition.

Sebring will have it's hands full from the on-set, as they take on host East Lakeland — a team that is a bit of a mystery to Cannon and his staff.

"East Lakeland is a team we know nothing about," Cannon said. "It's always good to know at least something about your opponent, but we're just going to do what we do best and that's score runs."

Host teams bypass district tournaments and move straight to state, which is why the cloud hangs over East Lakeland to shroud its team and hopefully sneak up on unsuspecting teams.

Cannon and his staff looked at the bracket and saw some familiar names like Bartow and Chipley, but one team stands out among all others — Spring Hill.

"Spring Hill is going to be one of the teams we'll be keeping our eye on," Cannon said. "They hit the ball well and their pitchers throw strikes. They don't have that overpowering pitcher but they can keep you off balance.
"As a team, they made one error in four games, so they're not going to beat themselves."

Leading up to the tournament, Cannon has been trying to brush off the rust of inactivity, as the kids were given a week off after the district tournament and have been brushing up on their fundamentals and trying to reclaim that fire that led them to a district title.

"Our focus has been just keeping the kids loose over the past few weeks," Cannon said. "They haven't played a meaningful game in three weeks and you never know how your kids are going to respond.
"We're going there to win it all. We fell we have the talent to play with any team in the state. We just have to win those first two games and earn a bye then we'll see what we're made of."

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