Baseball & Softball Are For Everyone At The North Tampa Athletic Association! 

When Duncan Pastore was growing up in New Tampa, he played recreational baseball with what is now the North Tampa Athletic Association (NTAA), dreaming of one day playing Major League Baseball. 

Duncan became a Wharton High standout who recently signed with the New York Yankees and, at age 24, is currently playing for its Single-A affiliate, the Yankees’ Florida State League (Single A) affiliate, the Tampa Tarpons. 

Back in Duncan’s NTAA days, his father Lou was one of the league’s volunteers, ensuring his son and others in the community had a thriving league for youth baseball and softball, even serving as league president. 

“Duncan playing with the Yankees is a dream come true,” Lou says. “It’s every kid’s dream to play professional baseball and eventually [make it to] the big leagues. As you move up the ladder from high school to college, the chances of you making it one step further is less each time. The fact that he was able to do it makes me, his mom, and everyone who knows him extremely proud of him.” 

And to think, it all started on the fields in New Tampa. 

This spring, hundreds of boys and girls will have their opportunity to work on their dreams their dreams to follow in Duncan’s footsteps, while others will play just to get outside, have fun and develop skills such as teamwork and sportsmanship in the NTAA. 

Duncan Pastore 
(Source: Nova SE University)

Registration is now open for boys and girls ages three to 16 (as of April 30, 2025) to play baseball and softball with NTAA. 

Robert Pickett is the director of baseball for ages 12 and under for the league. 

“We’re a thriving and growing league, right in the heart of New Tampa, and a lot of people don’t know about it,” Robert says. 

While the NTAA had more than 450 players last season, Robert says an ideal size would be closer to 600-700 playing baseball and softball. “The more teams there are, the more competitive it is,” Robert explains. “I’d rather have 10 teams in each division instead of three. It’s more fun.” 

That’s why he and others from the entirely volunteer-run league are increasing their recruiting efforts this year, hoping that new players will grow the NTAA community. 

The NTAA plays baseball and softball at two field complexes. One is Eber Field, located near the corner of Cross Creek Blvd. and Kinnan St., and the other is Live Oak Park, located behind Turner Bartels K-8 School. 

“Every night the parks are bustling,” Robert says. “If you drive by Eber Field on a Tuesday night, you’ll see games on two fields, concessions are open, families are everywhere,” he says. “You can go hang out and feel the sense of community.” 

Registration for the Spring 2025 NTAA season will remain open until mid-January. That’s vastly different than at the nearby Wesley Chapel Athletic Association (WCAA), where registration filled within minutes of opening. 

Some parents have asked why NTAA is open for registration while WCAA is completely full. What’s the difference? 

According to Robert, it all comes down to capacity. 

With the ongoing explosive growth of Wesley Chapel (vs. the nearly-built-out community in New Tampa), there’s simply more demand for WCAA youth baseball and softball than there is space for players. 

Because WCAA and NTAA are both part of the Babe Ruth League, there are flexible geographic boundaries, unlike with Little League Baseball programs. So, WCAA’s capacity is crunched by both tremendous growth in its “home” area, and kids from Dade City and Zephyrhills who want to play in Wesley Chapel. 

Meanwhile, NTAA’s geographic location makes it sandwiched in between other areas where New Tampa kids can go to play, such as Lutz or Wesley Chapel. 

To register, visit NT-AA.com 

That means there’s still room in the NTAA for kids in nearby Wesley Chapel to be part of a league that is this year celebrating 10 years since switching from Little League Baseball to the Babe Ruth League, which provides more flexibility for players who don’t live in the 33647 zip code. 

“It’s a great outlet to have fun,” Lou says of participation in NTAA. “Sports can teach kids a lot about how to grow up and mature and become great leaders and teammates. At the same time, kids can just go out and play and not have to worry about cleaning their room or all the things they have to do.” 

Lou says NTAA taught his son to be a role model for other kids, which started with Duncan looking up to the older players, and then wanting to be like them. 

“Duncan wanted to break the park’s home run record,” Lou explains, “and then, when he was 12, he did it. The younger kids looking on went chasing for that home run ball as if (Yankees star) Aaron Judge himself had hit it over the fence. They ran it back to the dugout and Duncan signed it and gave it back to them. He learned to be a role model at such a young age, and that’s a big part of who he is today.” 

Lou currently actually works for the Yankees as a groundskeeper for George Steinbrenner Field, where the Tampa Tarpons play, and still also maintains the fields for NTAA. 

“I have now taken care of every field Duncan has played on since he started playing baseball,” Lou says, adding that he also takes a lot of pride in maintaining the fields so NTAA kids have an outstanding place to play. 

In January, Duncan will return to his childhood baseball fields to host a one-day camp for young players, ages 5 to 12, whether or not they are registered to play with NTAA. He will be joined by other professional baseball players who want to give back to their community and mentor young people who want to sharpen their skills. 

“Youth Day with the Pros” will be held on Saturday, January 11, at the Live Oak baseball complex. To register, go to NT-AA.com. 

Registration for NTAA’s spring baseball and softball season is open now through mid-January. Players must be at least three years old on April 30, 2025, and no older than 16 on that date. Practices, which begin in early February (the season runs through May) are held at Live Oak Park (behind Turner Bartels K-8 School) and Eber Field (at the corner of Cross Creek Blvd. and Kinnan St.). For more information, see the ad below. To register, go to NT-AA.com. 

Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus Takeover — The Rest Of The Story!

On April 18, Pasco County’s Board of County Commissioners voted to buy out the contract of RADDSports, LLC, to manage the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus. 

I called the county’s tourism office that same day — and made three additional attempts before I went to press with this issue — in an effort to get official responses to a number of my questions about the takeover plan from tourism director Adam Thomas, who did not respond to my questions. 

Instead, the only response I got, from Tambrey Laine, the manager of media relations for Pasco County Government, was the press release put out jointly by the county and RADDSports, and that, “The county is declining to comment further.”

Please note that almost everything presented below is a matter of public record. The only exception is what the owners of RADDSports told me Thomas said to them prior to the Sports Campus groundbreaking in 2017; however, Anthony Homer of RADDSports assures me that what he says Thomas said at that time is true. — GN   

 For those who don’t understand why Pasco County has agreed to buy out the contract to take over the management of the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus for what will end up being more than $6 million of taxpayer funds, you’re not alone.

It seems that our editor was the only reporter who thought it odd that Pasco Tourism director Adam Thomas (right) chose to pose for this picture with former county commissioner Mike Moore — rather than with the management of RADDSports — when the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County won the Florida Sports Foundation’s award as the state’s Best Small Market Venue for 2021.

Adam Thomas, the county’s director of tourism who renamed the tourism department “Experience Florida’s Sports Coast,” got the job basically the same day Pasco and the private firm RADDSports, LLC, broke ground on the Sports Campus together in 2017. 

RADD’s Anthony Homer had told me back in 2020 that Thomas had told him and RADDSports president Richard Blalock prior to the groundbreaking ceremony that if it were up to him (meaning Thomas), there would be no private-public partnership between the two entities. And, it seems Thomas has been doing everything he could to end that agreement ever since.

For one thing, despite Thomas’ claims to the contrary last year, RADD has provided proof that it never did actually default on its agreement. And yet, Thomas still was able to convince the five county commissioners back in October 2022 to vote in favor of that default.

Thomas had the county hire the attorneys (with county money) who wrote up the default paperwork that the commissioners voted on in October — without the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) ever seeing any proof of the default and without even discussing it before they voted to approve it from the Board’s Consent Agenda. The commissioners at that time accepted Thomas at his word that RADD was focusing on local events, not on increasing sports tourism in the county, which was the primary portion of RADD’s mandate in that agreement.

Prior to the unanimous vote at that October BCC meeting, RADD even provided the commissioners with actual statistics from an independent study firm that proved that not only had no default taken place, but that RADD had actually outperformed all of the tourism benchmarks of its agreement.

These facts presented by RADD were confirmed by a separate $35,000 independent report — commissioned by Thomas — also using public funds.

In fact, RADD did such a great job of establishing the Sports Campus as a tourist destination for people outside of Pasco that the study showed that it was the #55 tourist draw in all of Florida last year, outperforming much more established attractions like the Miami Seaquarium (#56) & the Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium (#57). The Sports Campus also won the Florida Sports Foundation’s Small Venue of the Year award for 2021 under RADD’s management.

Again, despite Thomas’ claims, it wasn’t only RADD’s local programs that were hugely successful — it hosted 112 events (there have been many weekends with more than one event) in 2021-22 and those events helped local hoteliers sell tens of thousands of room nights both years in Pasco — and bring more than 92,000 unique visitors to the county. All of this happened despite RADD first taking over the Sports Campus at the height of Covid.

In addition, Pasco received the agreed-to $150,000 payment from RADD for 2021 and would have received its agreed-to $150,000 payment for 2022 had the BCC not voted to default the company. Pasco also would have received 11% of RADD’s revenue this year, and already has received millions more in sales and bed tax funds from all of the visitors the Sports Campus has brought in from all over the country and even beyond.

Instead of continuing this mutually beneficial partnership, Thomas convinced the commissioners to spend the following:

• $250,000 in taxpayer money on legal fees to force RADD out;

• $3 million over the next five years (including $1 million this year and $500,000 each year for the next four) to buy out the agreement with RADD;

• $2.8 million to operate the Sports Campus — at a loss (for at least the first two years, according to the default notice approved by the county in October);

• $94,000 to purchase furnishings & other items from RADD; and 

• $35,000 for the independent study previously mentioned.

So, is that $6,179,000 an amount of money a small, but growing, county would spend of its taxpayers’ funds to take over a supposedly defaulted contract? 

“We thank the county for recognizing the value that RADDSports has brought to the Sports Campus,” says Homer of the buyout agreement.

I don’t know why Thomas has had an issue with RADD from Day One, but I felt compelled to at least provide the actual facts of this situation, as I have not seen most of the information presented here reported by any other local news media. 

10-U All Stars Headed To World Series!

The Twisted Sisters, North Tampa Athletic Association 10-under softball All-Stars are headed to the Babe Ruth World Series after winning the State title July 2 in Lake City, FL.

The Twisted Sisters overcame a disappointing loss in Districts to make it all the way to the top.

After playing the District tournament at Madeira Beach and finishing second behind Bloomingdale, the New Tampa-based team came face-to-face with the Bloomingdale again in the State semifinals.

The rematch, however, went the Twisted Sisters’ way, as they knocked off Bloomingdale 4-1. In the championship game, the New/North Tampa team endured a rain and lightning delay — during which an impromptu dance-off between the teams took place — before beating West Volusia 6-1, to advance to the World Series.

In five games at the State tourney, the Sisters outscored their opposition 32-7 (all five were victories) in advancing to the World Series July 28-Aug. 4 in Jensen Beach, FL.

The team is coached by Otis Bass, with Jamie Ankers, Michael Connell, Devon Connell and Justin Horne as assistant coaches.

The Twisted Sisters are Chelsea Anderson, Jordan Ankers, Isabellarose Bass, Eliza Connell, Lola Coole, Hailey Horne, Allison McDuffie, Grace Mercado, Eliana Rivera, Willa Soorus and Skylah Stephens.

The team has set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for their World Series trip. If you would like to help, go to GoFundMe.com and search for “North Tampa Twisted Sisters.” — JCC

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.

Wesley Chapel 2017 Year in Review: Sports

Hockey, Tennis & Lots Of Firsts For Area High School Teams

Wesley Chapel has had the occasional high school team break through. Saddlebrook Resort trains world-renowned tennis players. But, to call our community a sports “mecca” would be an overstatement.

That may, however, be changing.

Consider in 2017 alone: Wesley Chapel hosted the U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey team training camp, some of the best professional women’s tennis players in the world competed in the Federation Cup semifinals at Saddlebrook, a new indoor sports facility received approval (and will break ground next year) and even the local kids made a little history at Wiregrass Ranch, Wesley Chapel and Cypress Creek high schools.

Not bad for one year.

As for ranking what we feel were the top stories, where do we start?

* The U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey team training for the 2018 Winter Olympics was huge news. We wrote about it on page 11.

* The RADD Sports indoor sports complex will break ground in 2018, and could be open by spring of 2019. While we’re still not sure how much use Wesley Chapel residents will get out of the complex, its overall local economic impact is likely to be significant.

* The Fed Cup semifinal pitting the U.S. against the defending champion Czech Republic at Saddlebrook Resort in February put a buzz in the area’s significant tennis population.

Saddlebrook constructed a temporary 3,500-seat stadium around one of the resort’s Har-Tru Classic Green Clay Courts, and it was nearly full on both days of the event, despite temperatures that were blazing.

The Fed Cup, started in 1963 as the women’s version of the men’s Davis Cup, is the world’s largest annual international team competition in women’s sports, with roughly 100 teams competing.

The semifinals were a good get for Wesley Chapel, and the U.S. delivered an exciting down-to-the-wire 3-2 win as Coco Vandeweghe and Bethanie Mattek-Sands won the final doubles match to clinch it.

Many of those who watched from the stands in Saddlebrook that weekend were also watching from their couches in November on The Tennis Channel as Vandeweghe (this time with Shelby Rogers) again clinched a 3-2 win in Minsk, Belarus, ending a 17-year Fed Cup championship drought for the Americans.

* Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) became the first team from Wesley Chapel to win a Florida High School Athletic Association football playoff game, despite a few 10-0 seasons back in the early-2000s by Wesley Chapel High (WCH).

The Mark Kantor-coached Bulls, led by 1,000-yard rusher Adrian Thomas, managed a school best-ever 9-3 record, and a 17-10 win over Lake Nona in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs (before a loss to state powerhouse Lakeland ended their season).

The Wesley Chapel softball team won almost as many games this season (19) as it had in 10 previous seasons (22), setting a school record.
(Photo courtesy of Steve Mumaw)

* At WCH, the softball team made some of its own history. Losers of 27 straight games and 43 of 44 over a three-year span at one point, coach Steve Mumaw and freshman pitcher Jordan Almasy led the Wildcats to their first playoff appearance ever. WCH won a school record 19 games, beat Robinson 4-0 for their first postseason win, and had eventual Class 6A champ Land O’Lakes on the ropes before losing 4-2 in the Regional semifinals.

* And, the new kids on the block at Cypress Creek Middle High (CCH) hit the ground running — on August 25, the Coyotes, coached by Mike Johnson, won the first football game they ever played, beating Gulf 12-0.

The closest anyone came to winning a state title in 2017?

* The WRH boys tennis team, which already won state titles in 2014 and 2015, fell short in their bid for No. 3 in four years, in April. The Bulls lost to Parkland Stoneman Douglas High 4-1 in the State Class 4A championship match, just the third time in their last 114 matches the Bulls boys have lost a head-to-head battle.