Freedom’s Softball & Tennis & Wharton’s Baseball & Track Teams Spring Forward

Wharton Baseball (Photo: Gigante Productions)

The spring sports season ended last month, and, of all the spring teams at New Tampa’s two high schools, the Wharton baseball team proved to be the last team standing, falling in the Regional semifinals.

They weren’t the only team to put up a strong postseason, however, as Wharton’s softball, track & field and girls tennis teams all made it past Districts, as did the softball and both tennis teams at Freedom.

Here’s a recap of some of the highlights:

WHARTON BASEBALL: The Wildcats made yet another Regional playoff run in 2018, after finishing as the runner-up in the Class 8A, District 4 tournament. Wharton set down crosstown rival Freedom 4-0 in the District semifinals, but fell to the Strawberry Crest Chargers in the final.

After an 8-1 win over Ocala Forest in the Region quarterfinals, Wharton got another shot at the Chargers, but dropped a 3-2 decision to finish the season at 17-9.

The Wildcats’ three-man pitching rotation was a strength all season. Duncan Pastore, a senior, and junior Brian Baughman each won six games — Pastore had three shutouts — and junior Zach Allen was 4-2. The trio combined for 127 strikeouts in 117 innings.

Pastore also led the Wildcats with a .431 average and 17 RBI, while Baughman batted .398 and led the team in hits. Senior Leo Alfonzo batted .397 and tied for the team lead with 17 RBI.

“Starting pitching, as well as talented freshmen and sophomores, have been key to our success this year,” coach Scott Hoffman said. “Brian Baughman was a stud down the stretch.”

The Wharton baseball team even earned the District’s Team GPA Award with a team Grade Point Average of 3.505.
Freedom’s baseball team finished 6-16, dropping its last eight games. Senior Hunter Kniskern hit .333 with five doubles to lead the Patriots.
FREEDOM SOFTBALL: After a slow start,. the Patriots went 13-1 down the stretch to finish 19-6.

The only loss in that streak was to arch-rival Wharton, but the Patriots got revenge when it mattered most, beating the Wildcats 13-0 to win the District 8A-4 title.

“That was the first District title for softball in Freedom’s history, so it was a great accomplishment for those 11 girls,” Patriots head coach Autum Hernandez said. “The girls were motivated before the game, they wanted to prove that they hadn’t played their best against Wharton the two previous times we played them.”

Freedom advanced to the Regional semifinals by beating Ocala Forest 6-2 in the first round of the State Class 8A playoffs, before a 7-0 loss to East Ridge ended the Pats’ season.

Sophomore Ellis Erickson led Freedom with 34 hits and a .442 batting average. She was one of a number of underclassmen — sophomore Shaniyah Pope had 25 RBI, while freshman Lilly Kiester led the team with 26 runs and junior Abigail Vandeberg hit .361 — to shine for the Patriots, who have a bright future, according to Hernandez.

The team only had two seniors, with Kristina Calixto driving in a team-best 27 runs while going 8-2 in the pitching circle, and Dallas O’Clair batting .333.

The future also looks promising for Wharton, as underclassmen led the team in average, runs and doubles (freshman Tieley Vaughn), hits and RBI (junior Jordyn Gendron) and triples (junior Asia Thomas).

Sophomore Jillian Long was the winning pitcher in 13 of Wharton’s 15 wins.

The same East Ridge team that ended Freedom’s season did the same to Wharton in the first round at Regionals.

FREEDOM TENNIS: The Patriots broke through for a historic season in 2018, taking two boys and two girls to the Class 3A State tournament in Orlando under fourth-year head coach Rich Simard.

“We’ve been pretty consistent the last four years, both boys and girls,” Simard said. “We’ve been either District champs or runners-up over that time.”

The Freedom boys won a third straight District title in 2018. At the District 3A-9 tournament, Patriots sophomore Hakim Zerki took the title at No. 1 singles, and then teamed up at No. 1 doubles with senior Jared Klay for another title. The wins qualified both players for States.
The Zerki-Klay doubles team made the Round of 16 at the State tournament, the highest climb for a boys doubles team under Simard. Things look even more promising for the future, as Zerki’s younger brother, Malik, will be a Freedom freshman next year.

On the girls side, sophomore Julianna Gibson won her second straight District singles title at No. 1, and then teamed up with sophomore Zoe Ruszin to win at No. 1 doubles. That helped the Patriots team to a second-place team finish at Districts, but Gibson and Ruskin qualified for States as individuals.

“The girls are going to be even stronger next year,” Simard said. “Gibson was very close to breaking through deep into the State tournament, and next year is going to be a good shot for her.”

WHARTON TRACK: The Wildcats took 13 athletes from the boys and girls teams to the Class 4A State meet at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville on April 16.

Senior AJ Hampton was the top finisher for Wharton, running the 400 meters in 48.09 seconds to take fourth place. The time was just off his personal and school record of 47.53, set a week earlier at Regionals.

Hampton capped his high school career with three medals at States. Next year, he will attend Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, on a football scholarship. Northwestern, however, does not have a men’s track program.

“AJ willingly did the most painful event in track, knowing that if he qualified for States, it would be his last race,” Wharton boys coach Kyle LoJacono said. “Having AJ as kind of the captain of the sprints and Frankie (.) as captain of distance was huge this year.”

Godbold, a four-year runner and two-year captain for the ‘Cats, surprised even Coach LoJacono with his chance entry in the 800 meters.

Godbold, more of a traditional long distance runner that LoJacono threw into the 800m halfway through the season, was only seeded eighth at the District meet. However, he finished second in 2 minutes, 3 seconds. He cut his time even further at Regionals, with a 1:57.97, the fastest time for a male 800m runner for Wharton in the last decade.

“Just getting to states for Frankie was incredible, it made me so proud,” LoJacono said.

Teammate Nehemiah Rivers, a junior, became the first male Wildcat distance runner to win the 1600m at Regionals. He also became the first Wildcat to qualify for the State meet in both the 1600m and 3200m races in the same season.

Rivers placed 12th in the 3200 at the Class 4A State finals with a time of 9:44.44, and he was 22nd in the 1600m finals, running a 4:36.70.
Both times were markedly slower than Rivers’ breakout performances at Regionals, where he set personal and school records in the 1600 (4:25.39) and 3200 (9:25.77).

While winning the 1600 at Regionals, Rivers ran a sterling 59-second final lap.

Tennis Event At Hunter’s Green On June 23 To Benefit Victim Of Lyme Disease

For years, whatever it was that was ailing Courtney Krysa befuddled doctors.

Fatigue and horrible joint pain had transformed her life into a difficult struggle. Even when she was able to play soccer for Freedom High, Courtney would sometimes pass out. She developed a heart arrhythmia, several neurological deficits and debilitating arthritis.

That finally led to a definitive diagnosis — Courtney had Advanced Neurological Lyme disease, likely the result of a tick bite she was treated for in 2008.

Although she wasn’t diagnosed with Lyme disease at the time of the bite — never developing the bulls-eye rash that is often the first symptom of the disease — she has suffered with the consequences and a series of setbacks ever since.

While there is no actual cure for the disease, and very few effective treatments, after years of searching, Katie Krysa thinks…hopes…she has found the answer.

But mostly, for the first time in a while, Katie says she has found hope.

On Saturday, June 23, at noon, at the Hunter’s Green Country Club Sports Club, friends of Katie will host “A Twist of Lyme” tennis social to raise money for Courtney’s continued treatment.

Katie, a Tampa Palms resident who plays league tennis with teams based out of West Meadows, is not surprised the New Tampa tennis community is stepping forward to help cover the costs of Courtney’s treatments. Katie says she already has exhausted her bank account by spending $20,000 for six weeks of the treatment; another 18-24 weeks is likely needed.

“I’ve relied on many of my tennis friends during this entire process,” she says. “They have been so great.”
A minimum $30 donation is requested to be part of the social, which also will have silent auctions and raffles.

The first 50 people to sign up will receive a tennis towel, and everyone who plays gets lunch, two margaritas and an afternoon of tennis and music, provided by D.J. Robby Rob.
Once a vibrant, energetic teenager, her mother says Lyme disease has ravaged Courtney’s body, penetrating her nervous system and damaging her kidneys. Courtney missed most of her senior year at Freedom, and couldn’t attend graduation ceremonies.

Katie says she has spent over $100,000 visiting clinics in Cleveland and Nashville, as well as visiting dozens of specialists, with every potential solution, most of them not covered by insurance, leading to a dead end.

Ready to give up, Katie says she discovered David Minkoff, M.D., an alternative medicine specialist, at the LifeWorks Wellness Center in Clearwater.

LifeWorks specializes in treating chronic illnesses, and Katie says she has been encouraged by the early results.

Courtney, who has spent much of the past few years bed-ridden and in a wheelchair, can today walk 25 feet without assistance, and has displayed cognitive improvements.

“I didn’t know where to go anymore before I found this treatment,” Katie says. “I didn’t have a lot of hope. I just thought I was going to have to watch her slowly get worse.”

After years of disappointment, Katie is optimistic her last hope can help restore to Courtney some of the quality of life she once enjoyed.

To read more about Courtney’s story and register for the A Twist of Lyme tennis social, visit HopeRisingInc.org. The HGCC Sports Club is located at 18050 Hunter’s Oak Ct.

Sports: Spring Football A Mixed Bag For Wesley Chapel Squads

Spring football wrapped up for the area’s high schools two weeks ago, bringing an official end to the 2017-18 sports season for Wiregrass Ranch, Wesley Chapel and first-year Cypress Creek Middle High.

Here’s how the teams fared:

Wiregrass Ranch (WRH)

The Bulls were the only area team to come out with a win in their spring game, as rising senior Grant Sessums threw for three touchdowns and rising junior Dylan Ridolph had a sack and a fumble recovery in a 36-17 victory over Tampa Catholic.

3 Things About Their Spring
Big Boys Come Up Big: Head coach Mark Kantor is excited about how his offensive line is developing. He sees them as being an essential element if his Bulls are going to advance to the playoffs for the third-straight year.

That starting group — Josh Hood (G), Daniel Thompson (G), Barit Dhungana (C), Robert Gibb (T), and Connor Lenczden (T) — had a great spring.

Photo courtesy of PascoCountyFB.com.

“The offensive line played fantastic on Friday (against TC),” Kantor said. “They are young, but we’re excited to see how they are going to develop over the summer.”

Lenczden is a towering figure, standing 6’-5” tall and weighing in at 285 pounds. Gibb, a rising junior tackle on the opposite side, isn’t a huge guy (220 pounds) but stands 6’-2”, making for a couple of good-sized bookends.

 

Sessums Ready For Primetime: He will be entering his senior season with 21 games and nearly 250 passes thrown under his belt. Last year, he threw for 1,483 yards and eight touchdowns, and after throwing for three touchdowns against a very good Tampa Catholic team, the thinking is this will be a marquee year for S
essums.

“Sessums is a seasoned veteran now,” Kantor said. “We’re excited for him and for what is surrounding him.”

New Names, Not No-Names: Kantor is pretty excited what’s surrounding Sessums, and his enthusiasm isn’t lessened at all by all the talent lost from last year’s roster, like Penn State signee Jordan Miner.

Cypress Creek transfer Keith Walker has explosive speed and versatility, rising junior wide receiver/defensive back Julian Gonzalez played sparingly as a sophomore but scored on a long touchdown reception in the spring game and ran down a Tampa Catholic wide receiver on what looked like a sure touchdown. In the backfield, running backs Mason Buie and Jamar Hicks throw a nice 1-2 punch.

“We’re fortunate to have a lot of multi-dimensional kids,” Kantor said. “We can put them in different places, and it gives us an advantage.”
The Bulls host Clearwater Central Catholic on Aug. 17 in their preseason classic.

Wesley Chapel (WCH)

The Wildcats, coming off a two-year revival, were unimpressive in their spring game loss to visiting Mitchell High. After falling behind 9-0 at the half, they still could not quite muster a scoring drive in the second half before falling 15-0.

3 Things About Their Spring
Making The Grade: The Wildcats lost starting running backs Dexter Leverett and Malik Melvin to graduation, and didn’t have anyone to play running back in the spring. Head coach Tony Egan and company are hoping that rising senior Kris Chandler breaks through to meet grade eligibility requirements for the fall.

Chandler came to the Wildcats as a freshman transfer from New Tampa’s Wharton High. He impressed coaches in practice his sophomore and junior years, but could not get his grades up to speed before this spring.

“He’s probably going to be a two-way starter for us,” Egan said. “He’s a strong, fast, heck of a running back and he might be our best player on defense.”

Rising sophomore Zion Flavien will most likely be the starting quarterback for the Wildcats this fall. Flavien started every game on JV last season, and is 6’-2”, 225. He is eligible, but his parents have held him out of spring football so he can focus on his academics. Tyler Wittish, who played quarterback in the spring game, and Cornez McCrary also are options.

All In The Family: Wittish will make an impact. His older brother Austen, led the county in tackles last season. Tyler has gone through an interesting transition. He was a chunky 230 lbs. as a sophomore offensive lineman. In 2017, his junior year, he slimmed down to 190 and played receiver and quarterback.

This season, he’s back up around 230, but a muscular 230. He benches 300 and squats 450. Egan likes him at defensive end and tight end, but with Wittish’s cross-training, he’s able to play virtually any position.

Blockade: This is the biggest question mark for the Wildcats for the 2018 season. Three of the Wildcats’ guards quit or were kicked off the team leading up to the spring game. In fact, WCH only dressed five offensive lineman for that game. Egan said that his team actually ran a play in the second half with just four on the O-line.

“It ended up being one of our biggest gains of the night,” Egan said. “One of our five guys got injured and the refs should have flagged it, but somehow, we were able to get (the play) off.”

The Wildcats will have rising seniors Seth Petty and Joey DiMarco, but Egan would prefer to use them both full time at defensive tackle.
The Wildcats travel to Land O’ Lakes on August 17 for their pre season classic.

Cypress Creek (CCMH)

The Coyotes were beaten 48-7 by Zephyrhills Christian Academy (ZCA) in their spring game. However, they were missing one of their best all-around players in Jalen Warren, who had a cast for a broken finger removed the day after the spring game. The Coyotes fared much better in the second half against ZCA after falling behind 40-0 in the first, getting two explosive plays from wide receivers Devin Santana and Tim Ford-Brown.

3 Things About Their Spring
QB, Or Not QB: Jalen’s brother, rising junior Jelani Warren, took most of the snaps at QB last season, but head coach Mike Johnson is open to moving him to another skill position to take advantage of his speed and athleticism.

The taller frame of rising senior Trevor Maxwell would make a good substitute at QB. Maxwell played sparingly under center last season, but played the entire second half of the spring game.

“Maxwell only had two weeks of spring practice while playing baseball, but he picked things up quickly,” Thompson said. “With Jelani, it’s two different dynamics at QB. It will be a fun competition over the summer during the 7-on-7 games.”

Black Magic: Rising senior Devin Santana might just be the biggest threat on the offensive side of the football for the Coyotes. He led the team with 10 catches and 134 yards last season, and has the size, speed and hands every coach dreams of at the high school level. Santana had a sparkling play in the spring game against ZCA, scooping up a ball thrown at his feet on a five-yard slant and then turning it upfield for an 80-yard touchdown. If the Coyotes can figure out a way to get the ball in his hands, look out.

You Got Players: When Johnson started the program a year ago, he had a grand total of three players. Obviously, this past spring game was the program’s first, as 36 players dressed against ZCA.

“I’m extremely proud,” Johnson said. “We had 20 days to get the guys ready (for ZCA) and we showed flashes of what we can accomplish.” The Coyotes are still in search of an opponent for the preseason.

WRH’s Ian Flores — Elite Midfielder, Faithful Teammate, Savvy Webmaster?

Ian Flores led Wiregrass Ranch High with 20 assists last season.

Certainly it was Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) senior Ian Flores’ prowess on the soccer pitch that made him such a highly sought-after recruit, but his character and knack for web design and self-promotion helped make him the most recruited soccer player to come out of the school…ever.

 

“Ian is the most highly recruited soccer player that has ever played at Wiregrass Ranch,” athletic director and head boys soccer coach David Wilson says. “We have had 14 players accept offers from colleges in the past five years, and all of them combined had fewer offers than Ian.”

In late March, he signed with Division III Oglethorpe University in Atlanta.

Flores’ resume is impressive.

He led the Bulls with 20 assists his senior year, which was second in all of Florida’s Class 5A.  He was nominated to the All-State team both his junior and senior years, becoming the first Wiregrass athlete in 11 years to be nominated as a junior.

He was nominated as an All-American four times, and for the first team All-Conference by the Florida Coaches Association twice.

Flores was invited and tried out for the professional Major League Soccer club DC United, and also has participated in the U.S. Olympic Development Program (ODP). He had 20 scholarship offers and has been in talks with 60 different colleges over the course of his high school career.

Flores says he picked up some invaluable techniques working with DC United and the ODP.

“The competition level there is way high,” Flores says. “You learn a lot of small details like not just making passes but where to make a pass, like passing to the correct foot so the other person can make a better touch.”

Already drawing attention with his athletic exploits, Flores, after his sophomore year, took his recruiting endeavors to the world wide web. During the summer of 2016, he launched his recruiting website, IanFlores.com. He got some help putting it together from his proud father, Carlos, who owns and operates an online full-service creative agency called Milorian Studios, but Ian has since taken over control.

“He (dad) still helps with issues like posting videos from different platforms,” Flores says. “But I do all of the editing, creating content and posting articles that come out.”

The website is impressive. It has links to highlight videos he’s edited and stories written about him in different media outlets. He even publishes his own blog.

“It’s a first-class website,” says Eric Sims, who has coached Flores on the club team he plays for, Tampa Bay United. “Ian also has first-class communication with coaches. He does everything the right way and gives things all he’s got. It’s really opened doors for him.”

To top it all off, Flores is a consummate team player.

“You can play with teammates that are not necessarily your friends but when your teammates are your friends, there’s a big difference,” he says.

Flores says that was mentality was a big factor in choosing Oglethorpe over schools like Rutgers and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Flores felt welcomed and accepted not just by the coaching staff at Oglethorpe, but even more so by the players.

“I got a great vibe from the other players and from students at the school,” he says. “I felt like these people really wanted me to excel in what I do.”

Flores also picked Oglethorpe because of its proximity to one of the largest metropolitan areas in the southeastern U.S.

He plans to major in business and Atlanta seemed like a great place to start.

“Ian is an outstanding human being and a great kid,” Sims says. “He has set himself up for success, regardless of what he ends up choosing to do, because he’s such a well-rounded individual.”

No State Title, But Streak Still Alive

Destiny Okungbowa (Photo: John C. Cotey)

When it comes to dynasties, the Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) boys tennis team has all the characteristics.

The Bulls rarely lose, collecting more than a dozen conference and district championships.

They make it to the State championships on a regular basis, including winning State titles in 2014 and 2015 and a runner-up finish last year.

The Bulls never rebuild; they simply seem to reload year after year.

“We’ve had a good run,’’ says coach and school athletic director Dave Wilson.

Good? Try great.

On the way to another District title this season, and a pair of Regional playoff wins over Lakeland and Strawberry Crest, the Bulls again ended their season in Orlando at the Class 4A State championships, falling in the quarterfinals to Olympia High.

And The Streak remained alive. Since losing a match to Land O’Lakes in 2010, the Bulls have now run off 125 consecutive regular season wins.

“It’s a good feeling, because you’re always playing for something,’’ says junior captain Destiny Okungbowa, who plays No. 1 and 2 singles for the Bulls. “But, the streak is always in the back of our minds. It’s like a chip on our shoulder because everyone is gunning to be the team to end that streak. So, it kind of keeps you focused and locked in on the moment.”

Kinishkh Ramesh (Photo: John C. Cotey)

Wilson does not stress keeping the streak alive to his team, but he doesn’t have to.  Three of his current players — Okungbowa, sophomore Kinishkh Ramesh and Josh Abrams — all had brothers on the team who are more than willing to remind their younger siblings of the legacy.

“I’m competitive with my brothers,” says Destiny, the younger sibling of Courage, who played for a State title in 2012, and Foresight, who was on the 2014 and 2015 State champions and, Destiny says, “is always bragging about it. So yeah, I want to keep the streak.’’

In their season finale, the Bulls edged Tampa powerhouse Jesuit 4-3 (teams play five singles and two doubles lines in a match) at the Sports Club at Hunter’s Green Country Club. Ramesh and Okungbowa won at No. 1 and 2 singles, respectively, and teamed up at No. 1 doubles for a 7-5, 6-3 win. The fourth line was won by Abrams, who has never lost a high school singles match, with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 5.

Jesuit was missing its top player, or The Streak might now be over.

“I thought this year when we played Jesuit, they probably would have beat us if they brought everybody,” Wilson says. “In some ways, it would be nice to be done with it so we wouldn’t have to worry about it.”

Because he has to worry about it, though, Wilson must remember to bring enough of his better players to every match to ensure a win. Otherwise, he would be able to get additional playing time for some of his reserves.

“They all know we have the streak and they don’t want to be — and now, they are not going to be — the team that lost the streak,” Wilson says. “That’s why it’s a big deal to them, more than anything else.”

There may be no end in sight, either.

Ramesh, who was 14-0 in singles and 8-0 in doubles this year, and Okungbowa (14-1 and 11-0) are the two best players, and both return next season. Adam Mansour is a 6-foot-3 freshman who was 11-1 at line 3 singles, and is only getting better, and Abrams (16-0 at singles) is coming back as well.

“Based on what is coming back,’ says Wilson, “I expect us to make another run (at a State championship) next year.”