FSN #61

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Volume 2 • Issue 61

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Featuring: Windermere Prep, West Orange, Olympia and MUCH MORE...

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Apr 3 - Apr 17 2018

Page 2 Florida Sporting News • 4/3/18 - 4/17/18

West Orange Softball Having Another Strong Season Greyson Everidge

ORLANDO – The Doctor Phillips Panthers are led by head coach Mike Bradley and assistant coach Ryan Larson and they are coming to play. The Panthers

In their preseason games, the Panthers beat the University Cougars 6-2 and completely wiped the floor with the Lake Minneola Hawks in a 17-0 beating. While they were only preseason games, they were good indicators how just how well the Panthers could play. The start to their regular season was no different. In their first five games of the season the Panthers scored 38 times, almost triple to the 13 runs that they gave up.

have started the season 5-0 and they won both of their preseason games. The Pan- The Panthers completed back to back wins against the Oak Ridge Pioneers on thers are not messing around and their February 28th and March 2nd. The first score lines are showing it. time the teams met the Panthers thrashed the Pioneers in a 10-0 beating. The second time was not as big of a win but was still a comfortable 8-3 win for Dr. Phillips. Perhaps the most satisfying win of the season so far for the Panthers came against the West Orange Warriors on February 23rd. Last year they had their season ended by the Warriors in the first round of regionals when they lost 6-2.

This year was much different. The Panthers came out with a vengeance and scored twice in the first inning and ended up dominating the rest of the game and came out with a 10-4 win. The Panther’s last game was the only one that came close and it was a 3-2 win in 9 innings against the Countryside Cougars.

The Panther’s next game will be a home game against the Lake Nona Lions on March 7th. If Coach Bradley can keep his teams momentum up for this game and the rest of the season, the Panther’s should have a very successful season and maybe even a deep run at the state championship.

4/3/18 - 4/17/18 • Florida Sporting News

Page 3

Windermere Prep Softball Continue To Win Under JD Wood Greyson Everidge

WINDERMERE – The Windermere Prep Softball team faced a really tough season last year, in which Windermere Prep was trying to restart their program from the ground up. They failed to win a single game that year. This year, Windermere brought on then assistant coach JD Wood to become the Head Coach. So far this year, they Lakers are currently sitting (6-4) overall and (01) in their district, already a huge improvement from last year.

The story of the team is truly a remarkable one.

They went from last year having players who had never even played softball before, to this year, with travel ball girls joining the team. Last year, when things were down, the team who were a majority of sophomores and juniors decided to stick with it and came back this year.

“We have several returners from last year who have a better understanding of the game, and we added some travel ball girls to help lead the team this year.” said Head Coach JD Wood. That return is paying dividends this year, especially compared to last.

The Florida Sporting News did a beginning of the season story on Windermere’s Softball team, and this story will serve as a follow up and progress report on the team since then.

The team took a long break during the month of March and will continue play at the end of this month. The last game they played was on March 9th against Legacy Charter, which saw Windermere win by a score of 12-0, which was one of their biggest wins of the season.

“Our pitching has been good, and we have an all-around strong team this year.” Said Wood.

After the break, the Lakers will come back to play Legacy Charter again on March 27. It should be yet another win for Windermere this year, who continue to impress everyone who hears their story.

The team consist of great players like Alexa Cortes, Alexis King, Brantley Gay, Constanza Lazo, Grace Bennett, Kristjana Osk Palsdottir, Laura Philippsen De Campos, Leticia Oiwa, Madison Workman, Maria Lemos Rocha, Meredith Workman, Myesha Mohiuddin, Sarah Graefe, Shailee Shroff and Tommie Taylor.

Page 4 Florida Sporting News • 4/3/18 - 4/17/18

Olympia Girls Lacrosse Looking Strong Mid-Season Greyson Everidge

WINDERMERE – The Olympia girls lacrosse team are once again looking strong this season, after a strong year last year which saw them compete heavily in their district. This year, they currently sit with a (6-1) record and have won their only district match played so far. At this point in their year, about midway through the season, they have shown they have what it takes to continue to push on and win more games.

Their opening game was a tight game against Oak Hall, from Gainesville. In a game which went to overtime, the Titans managed to hold on for an 11-10 win to start their season off on the right foot. Oak Hall are currently ranked 33 in the nation, according to Max Preps. The rank-

ings seemed to be a good indicator too – according to Max Preps Olympia are ranked 29 in the nation, just edging out Oak Hall in both score line and ranking this year.

After that tightly contested game, Olympia moved on to beat their bitter rival West Orange by a score of 17-12, which was more comfortable than their game earlier in the week. West Orange are another very good team which helps point to just how good the Titans are this season.

Olympia suffered their only loss of the season so far away from home against Lake Highland Prep. According to Max Preps, Lake Highland are ranked 28 in the nation, one spot higher than Olympia are at this point. Lake Highland are

someone the Titans may face again in the playoffs should both teams continue to win at the rate they are winning at.

Since that loss, Olympia have won four in a row against Apopka, The First Academy, Bartram Trail, and Edgewater High. This year, Olympia are led by players such as Finley Cassidy, Rachel Litwack, Erin Collier, Mairead Cassidy, Kirra Byerly and Katie Collier.

The Titans next games will be played in a tournament, where they will face teams out of the area including one from North Carolina.

4/3/18 - 4/17/18 • Florida Sporting News

Page 5

West Orange Basketball Make State Semi-Finals Greyson Everidge

LAKELAND – The West Orange Warriors played in the State Semi-Final game at the beginning of March against, marking only the second time that two Metro Area teams faced off in a State Semi-Final for boys basketball.

However, it would not be West Orange’s night, as the number 11 nationally ranked Oak Ridge Pioneers would go on to win 86-64 over a strong Warriors team, which ended the season (17-13).

Oak Ridge are currently ranked an astounding (29-4).

One of the keys for the game for West Orange going in was to control Oak Ridge player Antwann Jones, who has been recruited to play college ball in the SEC. The Warriors failed to control him, and the star man for the Pioneers scored 30 points, got 9 rebounds, 4 assists and blocked 3 shots against just West Orange alone.

Oak Ridge will go on to play Wellington, who are undefeated at (31-0) in the State Championship match. Heading into playoffs, West Orange had a record of (13-12), and were already one of the strongest teams in the area. The playoffs only compounded that, where West Orange beat Wekiva, University High, Boone and Seminole High by scores of 76-73 (OT), 73-62, 58-47, and 96-81 respectively before bowing out.

Of the key players for West Orange this

year, K.J. Simon led the Warriors. Simon is signed to Troy to continue is basketball career, and scored 20 points for West Orange against Oak Ridge. He also got 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

Other key players included junior Darrell Harding, who put up 21 points against Seminole in the Regional Final, Zion Collins, who scored 26 points and JaMarcus Clark who scored 8.

Seniors Tyler Yorke, Zion Collins, K.J. Simon and Elijah Jackson will all be leaving the team as they graduate this year having accomplished a great feat in a very strong season for West Orange. They leave behind a strong group of juniors who are more than capable of taking over and continuing what they started.

Page 6 Florida Sporting News • 4/3/18 - 4/17/18

West Orange Boys Lacrosse Greyson Everidge

WINTER GARDEN – West Orange have had one of the strongest lacrosse programs in Central

Florida since the sport first took hold here, and this year the Warriors have another strong team.

At this point in the year, with about half their games played, West Orange remains undefeated in both their district and overall record, sitting (5-0) overall and (30) in their district comprised of a number of strong teams.

In in their three games of the season, the Warriors played three rivals back to back to back, capturing big wins in all three games.

They beat Dr. Phillips by a score of 18-1, Windermere by a score of 19-10 and Ocoee by a score of 19-1. All three wins were also on the road, as the Warriors haven’t played a single home game yet this season due to the turf field which is still under construction after needing to be replaced after Hurricane Irma all the way back in September.

Since those three major wins, the Warriors won two more district games to keep them undefeated in the district and in the first seed spot. They beat Lake Minneola by a score of 20-7, and Montverde Academy 19-5.

This season, they are led by a strong senior class which includes Mikey Berkman, Ryan Burdon, Caleb Haith, Kody Siegfried and a number of others. Berkman has broken numerous school records, and has passed 300 career points.

He is committed to Syracuse.

After break, the Warriors come home to play East Ridge High in a district game, on Tuesday, March 27th at 6 p.m.

“We are ready to start playing again and want to keep doing well like we have been so far.” said senior Kody Siegfried.

4/3/18 - 4/17/18 • Florida Sporting News

Page 7

Windermere Prep Lakers Baseball: Looking Good!

Mark Korotetskiy

WINDERMERE- The Windermere Prep Lakers started the season with a positive record of (5-1) under the lead of Coach Keith Walsh. The team got together and started to really play some great baseball and now are (9-8) on the season, winning their past three games. These three wins were against Wekiva, Umatilla and Central Pointe Christian.

Their next game is against the powerhouse The First Academy.

The Lakers season last year was a challenge, with their (1-8) record in districts, preventing them from going further into the playoffs.

They played hard and lost several close games due to some player injuries.

This year, the Lakers are proving to be a playoff team, which can have a chance at States. Their record right now is currently similar to what it was last year, just by the similar win-loss patterns.

The Lakers are (1-1) in the 4A District 3 Standings, tied for first with Trinity Prep.

The Lakers defeated Trinity Prep in their first meeting on 3/13, but unfortunately lost to them a couple days later.

With 8 games left in the season, the Lakers hope that they can find their stride and win majority of those that remain. In order to reach the

playoffs, the Lakers cannot give up any of their games and fight for their position in the District Standings.

two game series with The First Academy very hungry to win. If they split the series, they will be in a good position for the district playoffs.

They will face the First Academy on 4/3 at 4 PM at home and again on 4/6 at 7 pm at The First Academy.

The team has great hitters with solid batting averages. Led by C. Cannon at .385, N. Mitchem at .333, J. Walczak at .286, P. Delgado at .287, J. Janata at .276 and M. Russell at .258.

Luckily for the Lakers, they are going into this

Page 8 Florida Sporting News • 4/3/18 - 4/17/18

West Orange Senior Kayla Strehle Heads For Spalding University Greyson Everidge

WINTER GARDEN – The West Orange girls’ soccer program has added another senior to the list of players who will continue to play in college, after goalkeeper Kayla Strehle signed her National Letter of Intent to play at Spalding University last month.

Spalding University is located in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. When making her college choice, Kayla had offers to play at Spalding, Jacksonville University, and Bellarmine. For Kayla, the choice was easily narrowed down.

“I chose Spalding primarily because I wanted to focus on school.” said Kayla. Spalding

offered her the opportunity to play soccer at the Division Three level, something which attracted her even though she had a Division One offer because of what it would allow her to do outside of the soccer world too.

Kayla wants to attend medical school and become an anesthesiologist, and Spalding also offered her the opportunity to study in and attend a school with a well-known medical program, something she feels will help her in her career pursuits after soccer is over.

years have been club soccer. She currently plays for Florida Krush Kraze on one of the top girls teams in the state. Last year, she herniated two discs in her back which set her back in her playing for a significant portion of time. After months of rehab and missing out on playing, she returned and still played at a top level to earn a spot on a college team.

Overall, she is very happy with the choice she has made and says that it couldn’t have worked out better because it allows her to Though, not everything was smooth for Kay- continue playing soccer while also allowing la in her high school years. She has played her to begin her career in medicine, which soccer for nearly 15 years, and 10 of those starts at the undergrad level.

SERVING ALL OF HURRICANE IRMA RELIEF FAMILIES FOR THE LOCAL ORLANDO AREA

4/3/18 - 4/17/18 • Florida Sporting News

Page 9

Foundation Academy Baseball Midseason Review Kaden Bauer

WINTER GARDEN – The Foundation Academy Lions Baseball team’s inconsistencies continue into the middle of the season. The Lions, coached by Derreck Santiago, are currently 4-6-1 overall but have the potential to be much better than their current .409% win percentage.

The Lions, while currently not having a winning record thus far into the season, have shown that they are capable of having one by the end of the season.

They are just inconsistent with the teams that they play and how the perform against them. For example, the Lions tied the Master Academy Eagles 6-6 on February 27th but then turned around and lost

11-0 on March 2nd. This happened again against the Harmony Longhorns in which they won 6-3 on March 7th but then lost 8-3 on March 15th. And again against the Legacy Charter Eagles. They fell short in a 15-3 loss on March 13th but rebounded and won the next time they met 9-1 on March 16th.

This shows that the Lions can compete with most of the teams they play and be successful against them.

If they can maintain their focus in every game that they play, Foundation Academy could be a very dangerous team looking forward.

The Lions have the weapons to be a dangerous team as well. They have five players that are batting over

a .300 batting average. They are led by junior Elias Cabral who has an impressive .393 batting average and also has the Lions sole home run this season. He is followed by Nate Wilkerson with a .375, Abner Hidalgo with a .364, Ty English with a .333, and Adam Macchi with a .312. Nate Wilkerson leads the team in pitching with the most innings pitched, 17.2, and the most strikeouts, 23.

Foundation Academy’s next game will be a home game against the Orlando Christian Prep Warriors on April 2nd. The Lions may finally click over spring break and start becoming a team to look out for.

Foundation Academy Softball Midseason Kaden Bauer

for the Lady Lions and three out three base runners stealing.

WINTER GARDEN – The Foundation Academy Lady Lions Softball team has started off the season with a 1-7 overall record and a 1-4 district record.

The Lady Lions are coached by head coach Roberto Rodriguez and assistant coach Tina Mora.

The Lady Lions sole win came against the Lake Mary Prep Griffins in a 16 to 4 beat down. Jesi Mora earned her first career pitching victory and Victoria DelCampo earned her pitching debut and pitched two innings and struck out one batter. Other notable mentions include Jayda Ross who scored three runs

The Lady Lions came close in a couple of games to pulling out some victories but fell just short on a couple of occasions. The first was a 12-7 defeat to the Windermere Prep Lakers which saw Jesi Mora score 4 runs and an inside the park homerun and Kayle Kavanaugh go two for four and hit a double and earn two RBI’s. The second was a 13-14 loss to the Faith Christian Lions in a game that came down to the wire. In this game Jayda Ross had three hits and three RBI’s and Victoria DelCampo had two hits for four RBI’s. Unfortunately one of the Lady Lions games was stopped in a nail-biting game that was 14-14 in the bottom of the 7th against the Legacy Charter Eagles. The game was stopped after Adelina Cruz had to be taken to the hospital after breaking her ankle while sliding into home plate in the bottom of the 7th. The game will be finished on April 2nd.

We wish Adelina the best and a speedy recovery.

Coaches Roberto Rodriguez and Tina Mora and the rest of the Lady Lions will be looking to build off of the first half of the season and keep improving. Their next game will be against the Hernando Christian Academy Lions on March 23rd.

Page 10 Florida Sporting News • 4/3/18 - 4/17/18

West Orange Girls Lacrosse Undefeated In The District Greyson Everidge

WINTER GARDEN – The West Orange girl’s lacrosse team are off to a great start in their 2018 season, and so far are undefeated in their district with a (3-0) record. Overall, the Warriors have won five of their eight games, giving them a record of (5-3), with a 62 percent win percentage. So far, West Orange have scored 90 goals while only giving up 64 as the defense continues to hold down the backline while the offense has contributed their share of goals.

The Warriors started their season against a strong private school team, Trinity Prep, by winning 6-5 in a tight game which showed what West Orange was capable early on. They then went on to blowout

Lake Minneola, by a score of 18-1 to improve to (20). Their first loss came at the hands of rival Olympia, by a score of 17-12. West Orange will certainly be looking to beat them should they face off in the playoffs later down the road. Olympia are currently in another district, meaning a potential match up would come in the Regional round.

“We are working really hard to keep getting better and the hard work is paying off.” said senior captain Karson Keiber.

West Orange continued to win, beating district opponents Wekiva and Evans by big score lines before beating a more able Oviedo by a score of 9-8 in a tightly contested game which was exciting to both

play in and watch.

Two losses came back to back against Winter Park and Dr. Phillips by scores of 10-5 and 18-8 respectively. The Wildcats and the Panthers are two of the strongest teams in all of Central Florida.

After a win against East Ridge by a score of 16-5, the Warriors are looking forward to their next game which will be played after the girls return to play following the end of Spring Break against Celebration, at Celebration on March 26th at 7:30 p.m., with playoffs quickly approaching.

“The team is really excited to get back to playing after break.” said junior and key player Jenna Douglas.

4/3/18 - 4/17/18 • Florida Sporting News

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Page 12 Florida Sporting News • 4/3/18 - 4/17/18