YOUNGRY

It has been a year of rebuilding for The First Academy varsity baseball team.

After losing 11 seniors last year, the Royals were aware of the task ahead — knowing the team would be young and there were a lot of spots to fill — and were ready to get to work.

“Going into the season, we knew that we were going to be extremely this event has served, primarily, as a fundraiser for the football team at the school. However, over the years, the tournament has grown and now benefits several areas of the school This year, the tournament had 144 players participating and 36 teams. young, but we also knew that we had a huge amount of talent at the lower level, mostly ninth- and 10th-graders,” head baseball coach Scott Grove said. “I just didn’t know they were going to be as good as we have been early on (in the season). I thought we were going to have a lot of growing pains, just because we had been having the same varsity (team) for the last four years.”

Almost undefeated this season, the team has managed to put together a 16-1 overall season record. The only loss was to Montgomery Bell Academy (Nashville, Tenn.) during a neutral tournament. Nevertheless, the Royals currently sit as the No. 1 seed in Class 2A, District 7, and are ranked No. 3 in the state.

“It works out really (well) being at a private school, because we have our middle-schoolers on campus, so we can start them at a really young age when they are in sixth-grade,” Grove said. “They just kind of go through

The Olympia High School varsity softball team (10-2) snagged another win Tuesday, March 28, after defeating University High School 11-1 during a non-district game. Olympia took the lead early; the Titans scored their first run in the first inning and increased the lead by five before the bottom of the second. The last five runs were scored at the bottom of the fifth and the sixth innings. Runs were scored by Julia Benamati, Kayla Torkos, Leticia Lima, Olivia Church, Angelina Laverdi, Teneil Williams and Leona Masangkay. Freshman pitcher

Makenna Rossi pitched the entire six innings for a 1.17 ERA, allowing only four hits and one run while walking one and striking out 10. Olympia defeated the Edgewater Eagles 17-7 Wednesday, March 29, during a nondistrict game

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Foundation Academy hosted its 12th annual Legacy Classic Golf Tournament at the Orange County National Golf Center Friday, March 24. Started in 2010,

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The Lake Buena Vista High School boys weightlifting team recently became district runner-up. The Vipers are now preparing to compete at the regional competition that will take place Friday, April 7, at Lake Wales High School, after press time.

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Horizon High School hosted its spring Signing Day Ceremony Monday, April 4. The school celebrated five student-athletes as they signed their National Letters of Intent to commit to their respective colleges. The students who signed are Nelson Castellanos, boys volleyball (Lees-McCrae College); Cruz Frosch, football (Castleton University); Linnea Preston, girls volleyball (Santa Fe College); Hannah Pridgeon, girls volleyball (Simmons University); and Bo Wargel, football (Catholic University).

West Orange, Dr. Phillips

Olympia water polo still in play

The Windermere High School softball team celebrated a 16-0 win over the Lake Buena Vista Vipers during the first game of the Metro West Tournament Monday, April 3. The Lady Wolverines were set to host West Orange Wednesday, April 5, for the next game of the tournament, after press time

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Both West Orange teams, the Lady Panthers and the Lady Titans continue their quest for a state championship title.

Following the regular water polo season, several teams in the West Orange and Southwest Orange areas advanced to postseason play in pursuit of championship hardware. The Dr. Phillips High School boys team, the Olympia High School girls team and both West Orange High School teams remain in the battle to obtain the state championship title.

DR. PHILLIPS BOYS

After an undefeated regular season last year, the Dr. Phillips High

School boys varsity water polo team made a statement on the water during the regional quarterfinals game. The Panthers battled Westminster Academy for the first time and earned a 19-8 win Saturday, April 1, to advance to the regional semifinals. “Out of the 13 players, we had only three (who) were returning, and ours is not really half of a team to start out with, so, we are a little smaller than