ST. ANDREWS LIONS CONTINUE TO ROLL!

March 28, 2017 - Fort Pierce, FL - Stephen Stagg and Kyle Schammn combined for five strike-outs, while walking seven and allowing six runs to overcome Community Christian 11-6 at the Lawnwood Baseball Complex on Monday, March 27, 2017 in a non-district matchup. St. Andrews improved to 11-1, the best start in the three-year-old high school history. The small 2A school suffered its only loss this season to 9A powerhouse Fort Pierce Central.

The Lions are sitting in first place in Region 2A – District 4, with a one-game lead over City of Life Christian Academy who they have already beaten twice this season.

By the numbers and at the mid-way point of the season the Lions are overpowering their District opponents. District teams have scored a total of 546 runs this season with 100 of them – or 18% being scored by St. Andrews. Of the 544 runs allowed in District play thus far St. Andrews is responsible for only 14 of them, 100% less than their closest opponent and only 3% of the district as a whole.

St. Andrews hosts the 2A-4 District series this spring at Lawnwood Stadium that begins the first week of may.

AT 8-0 LADY TITANS CLICKING ON ALL CYLINDERS

The Titans have been spoiled for the past four years with
 star senior pitcher Katlyn “Light Speed” McCue.

AT 8-0 LADY TITANS CLICKING ON ALL CYLINDERS

March 22, 2017 – St. Lucie County, FL – The Treasure Coast Lady Titan Softball Team is clicking on all cylinders this season. With a perfect 8-0 record, the Titans took down District 9-7A rival Fort Pierce Central yesterday by a score of 8-1.

This year’s crop of student-athletes includes only three seniors so the team will be competitive for the next couple of seasons at the least.

The girls lead long-time powerhouse Vero Beach in the local 9A division by a full two games and will earn at least a tie with the Indians for the number one seed in the district playoffs which begin on April 24^th and conclude on April 27^th at St. Lucie West Centennial High School. The district champion and runner-up each advance to the Regional Tournament to determine who will represent specific divisions and classes at the State Championship Series held annually in May at Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach.

Divisions are created and managed by the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) and include 1A – 9A. The determination of what division a school will be classified under is based on the school’s student population as follows, according to the FHSAA: 1A 72 – 600; 2A  32 – 161; 3A 162 – 378; 4A 379 – 738; 5A 740 – 1,358; 6A 1,359 – 1,700; 7A 1,701 – 2,039; 8A 2,040 – 2,406; 9A 2,407 – 4,492.

Junior Brianna Thomas accounts for 13.3% of the Lady
Titan runs with her amazing batting average of .667,
on-base percentage of .773 and slugging percentage of .833.

At the plate the Titans are led by Junior Brianna Thomas who pitches and plays center field. Thomas is batting .667 with 16 hits (average of two per game), eight runs scored and 12 RBI’s. And she manages an extra base hit in every other game she plays in. She has an on-base percentage of .733 along with a slugging percentage of .833 and has only struck out twice all season. Her eight runs scored account for 13.3% of all the runs the team has scored this season, while her 12 RBI’s account for almost a quarter of the RBI’s the team has put in the books this year.

Freshman standout Madison Hurley is hitting .429
 with 12 hits, 10 runs and two RBI’s for the Titans.

But as already mentioned this team runs deep. So deep in fact that of the student-athletes that have played in all eight games so far this season, eight of the top nine batting averages belong to underclassmen including standout ninth-grader Madison Hurley who is hitting .429 with 12 hits, 10 runs and two RBI’s. And the combined batting average of this gang of eight is .431.

In the circle the Titans have been spoiled for the past four years with star senior pitcher Katlyn “Light Speed” McCue whose father Joe Jr., and grandfather Joe Sr. serve as the team’s head coach and assistant coach, making the Titan softball franchise a team of three generation McCue’s.

Light Speed has been truly blazing this year. Besides being undefeated in her six starts she averages 10.6 strikeouts per game – well over one per inning. Her opponent’s batting average stands at just .139. Putting that in perspective, 86.1% of the batters McCue has faced never reach base!

So what does the future hold for these dolls of the diamond? 

It’s hard to tell. But with the season over halfway completed and district play scheduled to end in just a couple of weeks the numbers sure look promising.

Here’s why –

There are 74 total teams in the FHSAA 9A classification. Of those only 16% are unbeaten in their district this season, including the Titans. The average district games winning percentage stands at .486, while the Titan’s is at 1.000. Add to that these girls score just over ten runs per district opponent faced with the overall average runs scored by other schools in the 9A class at 6.5 runs per game and it’s not hard to see why media giants such as MaxPreps predict that Treasure Coast will have a deep run into the playoffs this season.

Photos from this game can be found at www.TCSportsJournal.com

RAMS O’BRIEN THROWS A GEM ON ST. PATRICKS DAY

John Carroll's Brandon O'Brien throws a
shutout in his first start for the Rams on Friday,
 March 17th at Lawnwood Stadium
 against Somerset Canyons Charter School

March 17, 2017 – Fort Pierce, FL – John Carroll’s Brandon O’Brien tossed a shutout against Somerset Canyons Charter School on Friday at the Lawnwood Baseball Complex. O’Brian, starting in his first varsity game of the season, allowed just three hits while walking none and striking out eight. He went six and two-thirds innings before Senior Joey LeClaire came in to record the last out of the game.

Ram batters Austin Nirenberg and Michael Pedersen each had RBI’s at the plate with Michael Pederson and VonDravious Sands crossing home for the Rams.

John Carroll managed six hits, all singles, including two by Pedersen who led the team going two for three. Nirenberg, LeClair, Sands and Catcher Sandro Bourque each had a base hit as well.

The Rams only struck out three and walked once.

John Carroll is on Spring Break next week but has two away games. They face Treasure Coast at 4P on Tuesday, followed by a 7P game against Jensen Beach on Friday evening. They return home to face Hickman, a school from MS on Monday, March 27 at 6PM under the lights at Lawnwood.

Over 400 photos from this game are available to view at www.TCSportsJournal.com

ST. ANDREWS IMPROVES TO 7-0

March 10, 2017 – Kissimmee, FL - St. Andrews took its powerful baseball team on the road for the first time this season and picked up right where they left off earlier in the week – with another W.

The Lions out hit and out pitched City Life Christian Academy in Kissimmee 9-2. Lions batters came to the plate 29 times and knocked out ten hits and seven RBI’s for the night while only striking out once. Lee Kubitschek, Matt Gustine, and Stephen Stagg each had two hits and one RBI. Courtney Brooks went 1-4 with two RBI’s.

Kubitschek threw 80 pitches over six innings allowing five hits and two runs, walking two and fanning six. Brendan O’Shea closed out the game allowing only one hit while striking out two.

St. Andrews plays next on Thursday, March 16 at St. Edwards in Vero Beach. They return to Fort Pierce to take on Brevard HEAT in a 6PM game at Lawnwood Baseball Complex on Tuesday, March 21 and play an in-school game at Ft. Pierce Central on Wednesday, March 22 at 12:45PM.

CENTENNIAL – JENSEN BEACH BATTLE 12 INNINGS OVER FOUR HOURS

March 1, 2017 – Jensen Beach, FL – The Jensen Beach Falcon Baseball team came out on top in a 12 inning four-hour marathon baseball game against St. Lucie West Centennial in Jensen Beach. Each team sent 37 batters to the plate as a total of 353 pitches by a combined ten pitchers were thrown by both teams.

Centennial's Austin Hiller threw four innings allowing one hit and one walk while fanning eight before being relieved for one out by Warren Lindsay. Nathan Hinckley tossed four perfect innings striking out nine Falcon batters, Jorge Gomez threw 2.1 innings allowing one hit and two walks and striking out one before Mike Camacho started the 12^th inning surrendering one hit, one walk and the game-winning run.

As for the Falcons Sonny Gowran, Dillion Moran, Billy George, Luke Thornberry, and Robert Piekarski combined for the shutout striking out 16 Eagle batters.

Centennial allowed just three hits while the Falcon pitchers allowed four. Ryan Rivera led both teams with two hits for Jensen Beach and Jacob Winger had one hit and scored the winning run in the bottom the 12^th inning.

The Eagles fall to 2-2 for the season and are home on Friday for a key District Game against FP Central at 3:30 in St. Lucie West and play at John Carroll on Tuesday, March 7 at 6PM and then have another District Game on Friday under the lights at Vero Beach. First pitch is 7PM.

Jensen Beach hosts Okeechobee on Friday at 7PM and is on the road at Port St. Lucie for a 1PM game on Saturday and a 6PM game at Dwyer on Tuesday, March 7^th.

ST. ANDREWS EPISCOPAL ACADEMY IMPROVES TO 3-0

Southpaw starter Matt Gustine threw
 four solid innings of one hit baseball allowing
 three runs while fanning eight batters.

February 28, 2017 – Fort Pierce, FL – The St. Andrews Episcopal Academy Lions defeated City Life Christian Academy 3-0, while showing off their pitching dominance. Southpaw starter Matt Gustine threw four solid innings of one hit baseball allowing three runs while fanning eight batters. Senior Lee Kubitschek pitched three innings in relief also giving up only one hit, allowing no runs, walking one and fanning four batters as the Wells, Fletcher, Bingo, etc. era of baseball starts to thrive in downtown Fort Pierce.

The Lions out slugged the Warriors 6-2 while striking out only three times.

Courtney Brooks went 2-3 at the plate, while Gustine knocked in two RBI’s. Kubitschek was 1-4 with a run scored. Kyle Schramm and Ryan Brown each connected at the plate for base hits.

St. Andrews continues it home stretch of games at the Lawnwood Baseball Complex on Thursday, hosting Merritt Island Christian at 6PM along with two additional 6PM games next week – Monday vs Community Christian and Tuesday vs Fort Pierce Westwood.

Photo gallery for this game includes 120+ photographs and can be viewed exclusively at www.TCSportsJournal.com.

© Copyright 2017 Ned Schuster / Treasure Coast Sports Journal. All Rights Reserved

GREYHOUNDS IMPROVE TO 3-1 WITH 15-9 VICTORY OVER JOHN CARROLL

Logan Peters threw
 69 pitches for LPA and
 went for 2.2 innings giving
 up three hits, four walks
 and four runs while
 striking out one.

February 28, 2017 – Fort Pierce, FL – Lincoln Park Academy’s bats were alive tonight as the Greyhounds clubbed 12 hits and scored 15 runs over cross-town rival John Carroll Catholic. LPA plated four runs in the fourth inning to fight back from a 3-0 Golden Ram advantage. They then scored three in the fourth, and four runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. Combined both teams had 18 hits for the night but also recorded 16 errors - six by LPA and 10 by John Carroll.

The Greyhounds were led at the plate by Joseph Aguilla, batting in the ninth slot but going 3-4 with four RBI’s and three runs. Cleanup hitter JD Stubbs went 3-5 while Branden Calise, in the number two slot, went 2-4 with three RBI’s and a run scored.

Golden Rams starting pitcher Michael
LaRocca threw for 2.1 innings
allowing two hits, four runs
and two walks while striking out
two Greyhound batters.

For the Rams, Center Fielder Justin O’Leary, went 2-3 with three RBI’s on the day, while starting pitcher Michael LaRocca, batting clean-up, went 1-1 with an RBI and three runs scored. Ram batters struck out just seven times as compared to nine times for the Greyhounds.

A total of seven combined pitchers were used by both teams with LaRocca going 2.1 innings, allowing two hits, four runs, and two walks while fanning two and taking the loss for John Carroll. Joey LeClare had three strikeouts for the Rams. Drew Hicks, Josh Manor and Brenden Leahy all pitched one inning for John Carroll.

Logan Peters threw 69 pitches for LPA and went for 2.2 innings giving up three hits, four walks and four runs while striking out one. Liam Felix picked up the win for the Greyhounds going 3.1 innings and allowing one hit, two runs, and three walks while striking out three Ram batters.

LPA is home on Friday at Lawnwoods Bud Gladwin Baseball Complex with a first pitch at 6:00PM against LaBelle. And the Greyhounds will host Treasure Coast High School next week on Tuesday March 7th at 5:30 before traveling to Clewiston for a 6PM contest in a district showdown on Thursday March 9th.  John Carroll travels south on Thursday to take on Coral Springs Christian with a 3:45PM start and returns to Fort Pierce for a 6:00PM Tuesday match-up against powerhouse St. Lucie West Centennial and a 7PM Friday game against Highlands Christian.

Photo gallery for this game includes 215+ photographs and can be viewed exclusively at www.TCSportsJournal.com.

© Copyright 2017 Ned Schuster / Treasure Coast Sports Journal. All Rights Reserved.

Golden Girls Stay PERFECT!

Lady Ram Taylor Montoya  was a
perfect 3 for 3 at the plate
today and also knocked in 3 RBI's.

February 24, 2017 – Fort Pierce, FL - John Carrol’s Lady Rams Softball team racked up their fourth win and fourth shutout in a row today against Highlands Christian of Pompano Beach in a District contest. Amya Baxley threw all five-innings fanning 4 batters while walking five in the Rams second straight no-hitter. Ashley Rosado no-hit FP Central yesterday.

In just four games this season the Rams have crossed the plate 43 times averaging nearly 11 runs per game.

At the plate Rosado and Sophomore Ashley Montoya each belted triples as the Ram girls punched 14 hits on the day, with Montoya going 3-3 with 3 RBI’s as well; Baxley going 3-4 and Rachel Thomas going 2-3.

Montoya has a whopping .750 batting average so far this season with 14 plate appearances and 14 RBI’s. Superstar pitcher Rosado is batting .667 with 8 hits and 9 RBI’s.

The Lady Rams are on the road next week at Coral Springs Christian of Friday before heading to Key West for a double-header on Saturday. The Golden Girls return home to face Vero Beach on Thursday in a non-district matchup which should be a huge test for a team looking to return to the State Series in May.

Wells Having Fun Coaching At St. Andrews

Feb 23, 2017 – Fort Pierce, FL - St. Andrews Lions new Head Baseball Coach Andy Wells is picking up right where he left off last year – winning! Wells, who took his John Carroll Golden Rams Baseball Team to the State Final Four last season is off to a 2-0 record at the cross-town rival, including a 12-2 victory of Masters Academy of Vero Beach tonight at the Lawnwood Baseball complex.

Lee Kubitschek pitched for 4.2 innings and recorded nine strikeouts, including 12 first pitch strikes and Brendan O’Shea closed it out for the Lions recording one strike out. Nate Fowler started the game for Masters going three innings with three strike outs before being replaced by Rollie Brown who threw two innings with a strikeout.

Both Fowler and Kubitschek, along with St. Andrews’ Steven Stagg belted two hits each, with Stagg accounting for five RBI’s.

St. Andrews cranked out nine hits and had no errors while Masters Academy had five hits and multiple errors, mostly on infield pop-ups where communication broke down between players, which is not unexpected this early in the season and is correctable through effective coaching – something that Masters Academy has.

As for Wells, he was relaxed and at ease and really seemed to be enjoying himself. He was doing what he told his players to do throughout the game – “just have fun”.

Sometimes we all forget that it is just a game and the players are still just kids. And Wells coaches’ the game the way it should be coached - with lots of fun!

Look for this year’s St. Andrews squad to make a run at the post season.

The College Corner - Week of February 21, 2017

Fort Pierce Central Grad Sam Vaughn continues his three-prong assault on University of Georgia. Vaughn is a quarterback on the football team, a pitcher on the baseball team and he was just named to the All SEC Honor Roll.

LPA Grad Taylor Martin killed it last week at Shorter University in Rome Georgia, going three for three at the plate with a home run and five RBI’s against Miles College on 02/16/2017. The homer was her first as a college student-athlete and was a line drive over the left field wall. Martin has a slugging percentage of .500 with an on base percentage of .360. She has accounted for 11 runs so far this season and has fielding percentage of .971 with 20 put outs. The Lady Hawks are in the hunt for a Division II National Ranking as they downed the country’s eighth ranked team, North Georgia, in a Valentine’s Day double header earlier in the week.

John Carroll Catholic Grad Chase Solesky is bustin’ his butt at Tulane. Per the coaching staff, Chase has the highest GPA of ANY incoming freshman in the past seven years. If that were not enough, he has made a real impression on his head coach who frequently mentions him to the local New Orleans news media. The Green Wave hosted Airforce on Saturday where Solesky reunited with longtime pal and LPA grad Jeff Gerlica, a pitcher on the Air Force squad. Chase pitched (for the first time in college) in relief for the Green Wave where he netted two strike outs and allowed only one hit. He is scheduled to start on Tuesday evening for Tulane.

Another John Carroll Grad, Mario Persuti, returned to the Treasure Coast last week with his Daytona State Baseball Team and belted his first college home run against Indian River State College. Mario’s slugging percentage is .381 with a very respectable on base percentage of .452.

Lincoln Park Grad Taylor “Speedy” Boykin is off to a fantastic start at the University of South Carolina Beaufort. The freshman Lady Sand Shark is batting .308 with eight hits, seven runs and two RBI’s in nine games played thus far.  Speedy is two for two in stolen bases and has only struck out 3 times (12%) in 26 plate appearances. She also has a fielding percentage of 1.000 and has accounted for 11 put outs.