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Sebring Baseball Throttles Booker

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Highlands Today Staff Report

Published: March 5, 2009

SEBRING - The Blue Streak baseball team breezed past a tottery Tornado defense and rolled to a 17-1, five-inning victory over Booker on Tuesday in Class 4A-District 10 action at Firemen's Field.

"They made a lot of errors and gave us a lot of extra outs," said Sebring coach Hoppy Rewis, who noted Dustin Lang threw three innings, Sheldon Williams threw one and Dylan Sanders threw the fifth. "There were a lot of dropped balls and we walked quite a bit."

Sanders led the offensive charge with a two-RBI double for the Streaks (5-2), who travel to Clewiston at 7 p.m. tonight. See Saturday's Highlands Today for result.

BASEBALL: Braden River 9, Avon Park 1
AVON PARK - The Red Devil baseball team took a slim lead into the fourth inning on Tuesday night, but Braden River took advantage of six AP errors to run away with a 9-1 district victory at Head Field.

"We were winning, but the wheels fell off and we ended up with the six errors," said AP coach Mort Jackson, who noted Kyle Jackson pitched for the first time in two weeks and Buddy Duke fought through injury to relieve Kyle Jackson after he reached his pitch count.

AP scored its lone run when Ty Jackson's blooper over the third-baseman's head scored Kyle Jackson, who singled and stole second.

The Devils (0-5) travel to LaBelle today and return home on Friday against Palmetto. Both games are set for 7 p.m.

BASEBALL: Frostproof 3, Lake Placid 1

FROSTPROOF - The Green Dragons ran into solid Bulldog pitching and couldn't get their bats going in a 3-1 Class 3A-District 10 loss to Frostproof on Tuesday night.

CW Vought was solid on the mound with no walks and four strikeouts, but defensive miscues turned crucial in the tight ballgame that saw only one hit (a Logan Smith single) out of the Dragon dugout.

"We made a couple mistakes - two errors cost us," said LP coach Dan Coomes, who noted the Dragons' scored their lone run when James Whitehead scampered home on a strikeout that got past the Dogs' catcher. "We need to get back in the groove. We faced a good pitcher tonight, but we still need to do the right things."

The Dragons (3-3, 1-1) host Evangelical Christian at 6 p.m. today and travel to McKeel for a district game at 4 p.m. Friday.

TENNIS: Boys - Sebring 4, Booker 3; Girls - Sebring 4, Booker 2

The Sebring boys and girls tennis teams were pushed to the limit in Tuesday's Class 2A-District 9 matches against Sarasota Booker.

The Blue Streak boys edged the Tornadoes 4-3 to improve to 5-0 on the season.

Booker's Cody Gusto edged Sebring senior Abhi Seetharamiah at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-0, while Blue Streak junior Mike Reed cruised past Bryle Allman 6-3, 7-5.

Sebring junior Kyle Komisar eased past Qwenton Clark 6-1, 6-1, Nikhil Raghuveera defeated Booker's Kevin Clarkson, 6-1, 6-1 and Chris Horta and Spencer Caton won No. 2 doubles for the Blue Streaks by a score of 9-7.

"It was a very good match for us," said Sebring coach Jack Holt. "Booker is a very good team and they forced us to play our best to win.

"This was the first time all season that we were pushed and it was good to see us respond with a solid effort under pressure."

The Blue Streak girls stayed perfect with a 4-2 win in Sarasota.

Sebring's Kelsie Johnson won No. 1 singles over Shelby Johnson, 6-4, 7-5, freshman Kaley Walter defeated Tornado Dora Kates, 7-6, 6-1.

Sebring's Alyssa Kariofyllis knocked off Emily Charleson, 3-6, 6-3, 10-6, while Shana Bassett won No. 5 singles over Ciena Lipps, 6-1, 6-2.

Kariofyllis and Bassett rolled past Lipps and Charleson, 8-1.

"The girls played well and won some close matches," said Blue Streak coach Janie Hollinger. "We have a young team, but the girls are really working hard on improving their games."

Both Sebring squads will compete in the Heartland Conference Tournament on Friday and Saturday at the SFCC and Sun 'N Lake Country Club courts.

TENNIS: Boys - Hardee 7, Avon Park 0; Girls - Hardee 5, Avon Park 2

WAUCHULA - The Hardee boys tennis team won their first match of the season with a 7-0 blanking of Avon Park on Tuesday.

Wildcat Joe Porter knocked off Nolan Jahna, 6-0, 6-0, while Dylan Justice outlasted Red Devil Mitchell Guerndt, 7-5, 6-7, 15-13 and Kyle Bodeck eased past Avon Park's Mike Hill, 6-2, 6-4.

Justin Fones defeated Kyle Jahna, 7-6, 6-1 and Porter and Dusty Spears blanked Yahna and Ray Arango, 8-0.

"The guys have been working hard and it's great to get our first win," said Hardee coach Ken Leupold. "This should give us a shot of confidence heading into this weekend's Heartland Conference Tournament."

The Wildcat girls beat the Red Devils 5-2 for their first win of the season.

Avon Park's Angie Carillo won No. 1 singles over Clara Durrance, 6-4, 6-3 and Carillo and Kayla Lockhart combined to win No. 1 doubles over Amanda Porter and Clara Durance, 8-3.

Porter beat Lockhart at No. 2 singles, 6-1, 6-1, while Shelby Durrance eased past Avon Park's Quinterica Gordon, 6-0, 6-2.

Hardee's Kayla Wood defeated Heather Bass, 6-0, 6-1, while Kate Krause beat Lindsey McLeod, 6-1, 6-1.

TENNIS: Boys - Lake Placid 4, LaBelle 3

LABELLE - The Lake Placid boys tennis team won their first match of the season with a 4-3 victory over LaBelle on Tuesaday.

Green Dragon junior Andreas Berg won his No. 3 singles match 6-1, 4-6, 9-7, while junior Michael Sweat stayed unbeaten with a 6-1,6-3 win at No. 4 singles.

Andrew Olivares and Michael Trujillo combined to win No. 1 doubles 8-3, and Berg and Sweat teamed up to take No. 2 doubles 8-4.

"It feels great to get our first win of the season," said Lake Placid coach Dennis Berard. "I'm still experimenting with guys in different positions and we improve every time we take the court."

Lake Placid is also competing in this weekend's Heartland Conference Tournament.

The Highlands Today sports department can be reached at 863-386-5841 or sports@highlandstoday.com.

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