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Volume 2 • Issue 45
Mar 1 - Mar 15 2017
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Signs with University of Charleston
Photos by Bob Gall
BASEBALL PREVIEW Featuring: Foundation Academy, Olympia, West Orange, Winderemere, Dr. Phillips, and MUCH MORE...
Page 2 Florida Sporting News • 3/1/17 - 3/15/17
West Orange Softball Chasing Second State Championship In As Many Years By Greyson Everidge
WEST ORANGE – The West Orange Warriors softball team (3-1), coached by Todd LeNeave, are looking to win a State Championship yet again. Last season the Warriors brought home the 9A State Title after rolling through competition from virtually the first game of the 2016 season. They went for a staggering (30-1) record, and beat Tampa Alonso 6-0 in the finals to bring home the programs second state championship. They hope that this year, they will bring home their third. Going into this season, they are ranked 3rd in the Max Preps Xcellent 25. They started the new season with a game away against Timber Creek on February
15th. They lost 1-0, however results this early aren’t necessarily crucial in deciding what happens when the playoffs roll around. They then moved on to their second game, which came away at Lake Brantley. The Warriors bounced back solidly, beating the Patriots by a commanding score of 15-0.
always seem to hang over the regular season.
West Orange’s next two games will come against East Ridge and Wekiva. East Ridge are undefeated to this point in the season, with five wins under their belt before their game against the Warriors. When the WarOff the back of that win, the Warriors got to riors match up against Wekiva later this play their first home game of the season. In week on the 23rd of February, it will give front of their home crowd, they beat Eustis West Orange and opportunity to extend their team 5-0 who are typically a competitive winning streak as well as capture their secteam. With a win under their belt against ond district win of the 2017 year after their their first good opponent of the season, the blowout against Lake Brantley a few games Warriors can move on to continue to rack up back. wins before their bid for the playoffs which
3/1/17 - 3/15/17 • Florida Sporting News
Page 3
West Orange Baseball Hungry for Another State Run
By Kaden Bauer
WEST ORANGE – The West Orange Warrior baseball team are looking to finish what they started last year and win the state championship. The Warriors made it all the way into the FHSAA Class 9A Semifinal game last year and are looking to go all the way this upcoming season.
they need to make this year theirs.
A couple of the Warriors main players did graduate last year but replacing them should be no trouble for Marlo and his coaching staff as the West Orange community has a very deep and talented baseball community to draw from. Upcoming Head coach Jesse Marlo and his team juniors Doug Nikhazy and Hunter Cole finished last season with a 16-1 record, were both apart of the Warriors state run losing only to eventual state champions last year and should be able to provide Douglas in closely fought match that end- experience for the next couple of seasons ed 3-2. This disappointing loss will be the to the new players that are being brought rallying point for the team and will push into the program. This experience from the Warrior baseball program to increase relatively young players in the squad their efforts in preparing for the upcomshould prove invaluable for the next few ing season and may give them the edge seasons and could be crucial in their run
at states this year. As far as the West Orange district goes the Warriors are looking like they will end up as district champs once again. The main opposition that they will face are rivals Apopka, who have already lost a game, and Lake Brantley who are looking surprisingly strong at the start of this season. Other district games include Olympia and Wekiva which should be both be easy wins for the Warriors. The Warriors will kick off this season at Sarasota in a non-conference game on February the 25th that should get them prepared for the season before returning home and playing Ocoee March 1st.
Ryan Popp Logan Beardslee Kaden Baur
Page 4 Florida Sporting News • 3/1/17 - 3/15/17
Dr. Phillips Baseball Looks Towards a Better Season This Year by Greyson Everidge
DR. PHILLIPS – The Dr. Phillips Panthers have put out great talent in all sports over the past years, with professional football players such as Haha Clinton-Dix and baseball players such as Johnny Damon coming out of the Central Florida area. Last year, the Panthers finished (12-6), losing their last game of the season to Oak Ridge to get knocked out after going on a three winning streak into the playoffs. To start this season, the Panthers tied their opening game against University High School. The game ended in a tie at six a piece after seven innings, meaning the Panthers still have room to go on and win before their record dips negative should they lose a game. Dr. Phillips play two more games before their first district game, with the Panthers playing Lyman on February 22nd and Lake Mary on February 24th. After those two games, they have an important stretch which spans the course of two weeks in which they will play six district games in a row. The first district game will come against Cypress Creek in a double header, with the first game being play at Dr. Phillips and the second game away at Cypress Creek. Following those games on March 1st and 3rd, the Panthers play a double header against Freedom on March 8th and 10th. In their third double header matchup in a row and subsequent fifth and sixth district games in a row, the Panthers play home and then away to Boone on the 14th and 16th of March. Following the end of those games the Panther can get back on track with single matchups more spread apart after what will hopefully be a successful stint for Dr. Phillips. With wins in those games they should be able to secure a strong standing in their district for the playoffs which approach the following month.
3/1/17 - 3/15/17 • Florida Sporting News
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Foundation’s Jaquane Patterson Commits to University Of Charleston West Virginia Coach Brad Lord was proud to announce that his star running back Jaquane Patterson, has formally announced his choice for college. After considering several schools after basketball season, the preferred walkon position at UCF, All-State running back, Jaquane Patterson has committed to The University of Charleston West Virginia. Head football Coach Pat Kirkland, believes that Patterson will make an immediate impact for the upcoming 2017 football season. On his recent visit to the University of Charleston, Patterson fell in love with the school, educational curriculum and the football program. Jaquane was the 2017 FACA 2A player of the
year and was a first team All-State running back selected by the Associated Press. He also was nominated for the Florida Dairy Farms 2A player of the year award. Patterson rushed for 1220 yards and scored 16 touchdowns leading the Foundation Academy Lions for the second year to the regional football Championships. “This is a wonderful opportunity for Jaquane. His work ethics and leadership on and off the playing field is what makes this student-athlete so special. Our coaching and educational staffs here at Foundation knows that he will be a huge success in college.” Said Coach Brad Lord.
Athlete Spotlight: Addy Clayborn
by Kaden Bauer
WEST ORANGE: West Orange junior Addy Clayborn has been playing soccer since middle school, and recently won the district tournament with her high school, West Orange. Clayborn has been a member on West Orange’s team since her freshman year, winning her second district tournament in three years. On the club side, Clayborn has spent her years playing at Florida Rush. This year, she has played on the U-18 Rush Girls A Team, and has also played with the Rush Select National team, comprised of all the top Rush players from across the country. She was selected to the Rush Select team as a center back for the past two years. “It was a great experience to play on the Rush
National Team,” said Clayborn. “I think that it really helped me develop as a player.” Four games into the high school season, Clayborn suffered a knee injury in a big game for West Orange. She had partially torn her MCL Ligament in a sprain in her knee, an injury that would require time off and rehabilitation but thankfully no surgery. “It was hard to overcome but all the work I put in was worth it,” said Clayborn. “I just wanted to get back on the field so I am glad that it happened.” After months of rehab, she made a comeback for the district tournament played at Apopka High School. In the final game, she made her first
appearance back to help the Warriors to a 3-1 win against Apopka at Apopka to win the title. Although they lost in the finals, the Warriors made a good run. West Orange wasn’t favorites, and weren’t supposed to even make it to the finals in the first place. “Winning districts this year was an amazing feeling and I am so proud to be a part of such a great team.” said Clayborn. Addy still has her senior to play, but is looking ahead to getting an offer somewhere to play in college, which is her ultimate goal. She has already gathered interest from a number of schools, but is focusing on finishing out her club season this year and winning districts again next her with West Orange.
Page 6 Florida Sporting News • 3/1/17 - 3/15/17
One Heart for Women and Children looks to break World Record! By Mike Attardi
Two local charities will join together on April first to break a World Record for the most people to form a sculpture of the human body. This is to help raise funds for their charities. Please contact www. oneheartforwomenandchildren.org or call at: 321299-4594 Please make donations to: One Heart for Women and Children 2040 N. Rio Grande Ave. Orlando, FL 32804 The largest human image of a musical instrument was formed by 1,660 people creating the shape of a saxophone in the Promenade du Paillon in Nice, France, on 21 June 2014.
ships with many Central Florida resources to educate, empower, and mentor men, women and children. We provide the following services from our home base in Orlando, FL: clothes, food, school supplies, personal hygiene items and household items. We offer a full spectrum education and prevention services to families including: Life Skills and Parenting Classes, Youth Education and Outreach Drug and Alcohol Prevention. Abroad One Heart for Women and Children delivers many of these services to Haiti, Costa Rica and Africa.
community. Since launching about three years ago, CPAC has produced more than a dozen events, highlighted by the annual Art & Wine Stroll, theatrical plays including an original work, musical theatre summer camps for kids, a big band gala and more each taking place at various locations around College Park. The organization is working towards establishing a permanent residence in College Park, but in the meantime has moved into a space on Edgewater Drive.
Special Projects: We coordinate special projects that link local businesses to help others from construction and home renovations to planting sustainable gardens. We connect a community that cares, creates hope and fosters opportunity to those in need.
A land acquisition offer is in place and in the coming years, through a combination of programming, grants, fundraising events, and donations from individuals and local businesses, the organization will be working to raise $2.67 million for the permanent center. Proceeds will benefit CPAC and One Heart for Women and Children:
The certificate was accepted by the Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi, who also led the countdown into and out of the event. An aerial photograph confirming the shape of the saxophone was taken by a remote-controlled drone.
Information about One Heart for Women and Children you may want to know: One Heart for Women and Children has no political or religious affiliations. One Heart for Women and Children is a non-profit 501(c)(3) in the U.S. We are a public charity. All donations are tax-deductible for U.S. residents. 100% of all donation benefit One Heart for Women and children.
About One Heart for Women and Children
Who is CPAC?
One Heart for Women and Children’s mission is to provide the necessary resources for families as they transition through and overcome varying hardships of daily living in the Central Florida region and abroad.
The College Park Arts Center - CPAC (formerly known as The College Park Neighborhood Arts & Theater Center or CPNArts) was founded to provide a center for the College Park community and beyond to celebrate life together through the visual and performing arts and advancing the continuing growth of a strong, creative and well-connected
The record was attempted on France’s National Music Day and formed part of the launch celebrations for the 2014 Nice Jazz Festival, for which the saxophone is the logo. The length of the completed saxophone was 56 m (183 ft 8 in).
How we do that… We have established partner-
The College Park Arts Center (CPAC), a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization, was founded to provide a center for the College Park community and beyond to celebrate life together through the visual and performing arts in advancing the continuing growth of a strong, creative and well-connected community. Federal Tax ID #46-5502945. Florida state solicitation # CH46877 One Heart for Women and Children is a non-profit 501(c)(3) in the U.S. and provide resources, services and education to families in Central Florida and abroad.
3/1/17 - 3/15/17 • Florida Sporting News
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Foundation Academy Baseball is on a Winning Streak with New Coach By Kaden Bauer
FOUNDATION ACADEMY – The Foundation Academy Lions have not been known for their baseball team in recent years but they are looking to turn things around this season. Bringing in new head coach Derreck Santiago has already made some big changes in the baseball programs fortunes so far leading them to a 2-0 record at the start of the season and some big preseason wins. In their 19-0 preseason win against the Orlando Christian Prep Warriors, pitcher Tyler Kousaie pitched a 3 inning no hitter which will be a very promising option for Santiago going into the season. The Foundation Academy Lions carried their preseason success into the regular season and started off by going on a two game unbeaten run. A 3-1 win against Windermere Prep (0-1) last week gave them the momentum they needed to go into their next game against Central Point Christian and pull off a 5-4 comeback win in the bottom of the seventh. Rahman was the one to run in the game winning run after a crucial walk off single by Gonzales. The Lion’s next game will be an away game against a tough looking St. Cloud Bulldogs (11) side that will really put Santiago’s side to the test. The Lions will be relying on another great pitching night Tyler Kousaie and some more clutch plays by the likes of Rahman and Gonzales like the ones they had against the Orlando Christian Prep Warriors the other night. Looking at Foundation Academy’s bracket for districts, the Lake Mary Prep Griffins (2-0) look to be their biggest competition in what the Lions hope will be their first title in quite some time. Cornerstone Charter Academy (1-0), Orangewood Christian (1-1), and Legacy Charter (1-1) will all be looking to give the Lions a hard time and hoping to bring home the district title for themselves. A district title would be a huge boost for the Foundation Academy Lions baseball program that could potentially lead to improved funding that will only further the programs ability to achieve success in future years.
Page 8 Florida Sporting News • 3/1/17 - 3/15/17
Olympia Baseball Looking Strong by Kaden Bauer OLYMPIA – The Olympia baseball team is hoping to rebound from a disappointing season last year and go back to their winning ways – and so far it looks like they might be on the right track. The Titans finished off last season with a 15-15 record which considering their impressive 27-2-1 record the previous year was extremely disappointing. Head coach Chuck Schall is looking to go back to their winning ways and have started this season with an undefeated record of 1-0-1 The first game of the season was an away game versus a relatively unproven Bishop Moore (1-3) side by bringing in one runner in the second and an impressive five runners in the fourth to give them a total of six runs while only letting up one run in the second and two in the sixth to make the final score 6-3 in the Titans favor. In their second game of the season the Titans tied an impressive looking Winter Springs Bears (1-11) side with a rare score of 0-0. While the score doesn’t say much about either side, the fact that the Titans could hold off and Winter Springs side that later swept district rivals Apopka (1-1) with a score 10-1 shows that the Titans can keep up with some very talented sides. While these two showings from the Olympia Titans are promising, it is too early to tell if they are back to their winning ways quite yet. Chuck Schall will have to keep his squad focused and make sure that they continue to train hard every day and recover after games. This will be key if they hope to reclaim their spot as district champions against the currently undefeated Lake Brantley Patriots (3-0) and West Orange Warriors who have not played a game yet but are looking very strong and maybe even state champion contenders. Schall will really have to keep his team on the right track and rely on his seniors to help lead their current undefeated side to more victory’s and hopefully a district title, or maybe even a state championship.
3/1/17 - 3/15/17 • Florida Sporting News
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Orlando City To Play Home Opener In New Stadium by Greyson Everidge DOWNTOWN ORLANDO – The new Orlando City SC soccer specific stadium on the corner of Paramore Avenue and Church Street is set to be played in for the first time on Saturday March 5th when the Lions play their first home game of the 2017 season. For the first two years in their history, Orlando City played in the Florida Citrus Bowl, which has since undergone a name change to become the Camping World Stadium. The new stadium, which is located in an area historically underprivileged on downtowns west side, hopes to
bring a new degree of excitement and redevelopment to the Paramore area.
also the Lions first opponent in their first ever home league game. In that game three years ago, Orlando and New York tied 1-1 after an extra time equalizer off a Kaka free-kick.
The Lions finished the 2016 season in 8th place in the Eastern Conference, ending out with 41 points. With 9 wins, 14 draws and 11 losses the Lions This year, they hope they will get fell middle of the pack, something the win rather than a tie in their new they hope they can turn around. home. Aided by returning captain Kaka as well as other key players In their first game of the new season, such as former rookie of the year Cyle Orlando will face off against New Larin and winger Kevin Molino, they York City FC (NYCFC). Not only Lions are on track to have a successful were NYCFC the second expansion season at their new home. team in the same year that Orlando were added to the league, they were
Oak Ridge beat Dr. Phillips for the third time this season The Oak Ridge Pioneers stayed on path for a Final Four berth Tuesday night, but it wasn’t easy. The Pioneers (24-4), who beat Dr. Phillips (19-10) for the third time this season, will play for the region crown on Friday at second-ranked Kissimmee Osceola. “We just had to make stops and make the right plays and make free throws,” said Oak Ridge coach O’Neil Lubin. “We just had to start making plays and play our type of basketball.” Pushed to the limit by upset-minded district rival Dr. Phillips, Sentinel Super 16 No. 3 Oak Ridge used a 3019 fourth-quarter run and some clutch free-throw shooting to win its Class 9A, Region 2 semifinal 69-58. The teams were tied 39-39 at the end of the third quarter. Oak Ridge star Michael Devoe, who was held to four points in the first half after picking up three fouls, exploded for 23 second-half points to finish with 27. He had 17 points, including 10-for-10 from the free-throw line, in the fourth quarter. “We just listened to coach, we just had to make better plays than them and start playing our own game” Devoe said of the fourthquarter surge. Dr. Phillips fell behind by nine points multiple times before taking its only lead 42-41 early in the fourth quarter. At one point, the crowd though that the Panthers were going to run away with a streak of big plays but the Pioneers were not going to let that happen. Oak Ridge answered with a 3-pointer and a dunk by Niven Glover and never looked back. The tide swung back into Oak Ridge’s fovor.
Daniel Love led DP with 25 points. Nick Smith added 12 points for the
Panthers. The top scorer was Michael Devoe who had 27 points.
Page 10 Florida Sporting News • 3/1/17 - 3/15/17
Windermere Prep Baseball Looking For a Successful Season by Greyson Everidge WINDERMERE – The Windermere Prep baseball team is looking to have a strong season this year, improving on weak areas in their game of the 2016 season. They ended last season with a (9-19) overall record, losing out on four of their five final games last season. Head Coach Scott Horvath and the rest of the Lakers team will be no doubt looking to win more this season with some new talent added to the team. Windermere’s first game ended in a loss to Foundation Academy, but despite the loss things are looking up already compared to last season. Foundation Academy beat them 3-1, giving the Lakers their first district loss of the season as well. The Lions put up three points in separate innings, with the Lakers getting on the scoreboard in the sixth inning.
They start with a slight disadvantage but can still move on to win games come the post season.
as part of the scheduled double header. That second game will come on the turn of the month, being played on March 2nd.
The Lakers next two games come against Wekiva and Ocoee, with the Wekiva game coming in the Ocoee invitational tournament. After those two games, Windermere goes on a three game run of district games which are important to secure a favorable ranking as the season progresses.
Windermere’s final game in the stretch of district matchups comes against Trinity Catholic of Ocala at home. Trinity currently have a record of (0-0), giving the Lakers a good opportunity to play against a team who will have less time under their belt so far this season.
The first of the three district games will come against Father Lopez, who are always good competition in the district. Following that game against Father Lopez on the 28th, the Lakers return back to play Father Lopez
3/1/17 - 3/15/17 • Florida Sporting News
Audi South Orlando
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Page 12 Florida Sporting News • 3/1/17 - 3/15/17