HomeTeam Hot Shots
Andrea Aaron, Chamberlain. Two days after winning girls shot put and discus titles for the second season in a row at the Hillsborough County Championships, the Chiefs senior finished fourth Thursday in the discus with a personal-best effort (130 feet, 10 inches) at the Florida Relays in Gainesville. On Friday, she finished third in the shot (42-6).
McKenzie Ward, Berkeley Prep. The Buccaneers’ sophomore ace tossed a five-inning no-hitter, striking out 14 and walking one in a 10-0 romp of Sarasota Booker. The only ball put in play by Booker was a line drive right back to Ward.
Jeremiah Green, Hillsborough. Competing in a cold drizzle in Gainesville, the University of Alabama signee nonetheless reset the nation’s top distance for 2013 in the triple jump (52 feet, 1 3/4 inches) en route to the title at the Florida Relays.
Kyle Tucker, Plant. The lanky sophomore had two solo home runs — his sixth and seventh of the year — in the Panthers’ 7-3 triumph at Bloomingdale.
Alex Faedo, Alonso. The Ravens baseball team’s 6-foot-5 junior right-hander tossed a complete-game four-hitter, striking out nine and walking two in a 4-1 win at Newsome. The Wolves’ lone run was unearned.
Web gem of the day
In the top of the second against Regis Jesuit (Colo.), Jesuit SS Vincent Miniet made an acrobatic dive for a grounder and quickly hopped up for the throw to complete the inning-ending out. The Tigers prevailed 5-1.
By the numbers
5 Doubles collected by Chamberlain’s softball team an 8-2 victory against Wiregrass Ranch. Senior Lauren Holbrook had two. Classmate Lindsey Hagberg had another, as well as a home run.
8 Consecutive district victories for Durant’s softball team (15-8, 8-2), which got an RBI hit from senior Kennedy Dean in the top of the eighth for a 2-1 win at Wharton. The Cougars will be the top seed in the Class 8A, District 7 tournament.
8 Runs scored in the sixth inning by Tampa Prep’s baseball team in a 15-14 win against Osceola. Matt Hodges had the winning hit in the bottom of the seventh, a one-out single that scored Nick DeTringo.
38 Points collected by Jesuit’s track and field team in the two throwing events at the Berkeley Tailgate Meet. Juniors Jack Taylor and Vincent Jackson and senior Cameron Ruff finished 1-2-3, respectively, in the shot put; while Ruff and Jackson were third and fourth in the discus, with Taylor placing sixth. Jesuit (175 points) finished second to Sarasota Riverview (198).
They said it
“The ball comes off of his bat different than anybody I’ve seen in a while.” — Plant baseball coach Dennis Braun on Tucker, whose first homer sailed into the top of a treeline beyond the right-centerfield fence
“You can’t get down on yourself. You can’t be not confident. If I wasn’t confident, I would have shook her hand at 5-4 and just called it a day. But you have to have a positive attitude no matter how down you are because I could have easily lost that match 6-2, 6-2 and completely just tanked.” — Carrollwood Day sophomore Jackie Fitz-Randolph, who faced a 5-4 deficit in the third set of her No. 1 singles final against Tampa Prep’s Paige Leavy in the Class A, District 8 tennis tournament. Fitz-Randolph rallied to win 2-6, 6-2, 7-5.