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Top 10 stories of 2002
© St. Petersburg Times 1. DEATH OF TED WILLIAMS: The man many called baseball's greatest hitter died July 5 of cardiac arrest at Citrus Memorial Hospital. Williams, 83, had lived here since the 1980s. He finished his career in 1960 with an average of .344, 521 homers, 6 batting titles, 2 Triple Crowns and 2 MVP awards despite missing nearly five seasons to military service. 2. PIRATES HEAD TO FINAL FOUR: After years of mediocrity, Crystal River advanced to its first baseball final four since 1946. The Pirates got there in dramatic fashion. In a regional championship win over Eustis, Jimmy Metz's suicide squeeze with one out in the seventh inning scored the go-ahead run. Metz made sure it stuck, striking out one and inducing two groundouts in the bottom half of the inning to clinch a 3-2 victory. Crystal River lost to Bartow in a state semifinal to finish with a 30-4 record. 3. AMBER PRESNICK GRADUATES EARLY: The Citrus soccer star, a three-time area player of the year, finished school in December so she could enroll at the University of Florida in January and join the Gators team a semester early. By doing so, Presnick opted not to play for the Hurricanes this winter. 4. BURKE TWINS TAKE THE FIELD: In Citrus' 43-22 loss to Crystal River in November, Hurricanes football coach Larry Bishop called for the game's final play to be a "B-B," meaning seniors Joey and Matt Burke -- 18-year-old twin brothers with Down's syndrome -- would have a chance to see action. On the play, a 21-yard field-goal attempt, Joey and Matt lined up in blocking positions on each end of the line of scrimmage. The snap and hold went well, and Keith Zigler made the kick. 5. CITRUS HIT BY SUDDEN DEATH: Six days after suffering a massive stroke, popular teacher and coach Sharon Bomse died Sept. 1 at Citrus Memorial Hospital. She was 43. Bomse taught language arts at the Renaissance Center and was an assistant girls basketball coach at Citrus. 6. CRYSTAL RIVER DOESN'T MAKE PLAYOFFS: Needing a win over Hernando in the Pirates' football finale to secure a playoff spot, Crystal River fell 33-21 to end one of the county's most impressive athletic feats. The Pirates had reached the playoffs six straight seasons. 7. TERRIBLE TOMMY MAKES HALL: Longtime Black Diamond Ranch resident Tommy Bolt was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in November. The 86-year-old, dubbed "Terrible Tommy" because of his temper, was among his era's great players. Bolt turned professional in 1946. Twelve years later, he claimed the 1958 U.S. Open at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. About 200 Black Diamond members traveled to St. Augustine for the ceremony. 8. ALLEN LEAPS TO GREATNESS: Seven Rivers Christian senior Shawn Allen, who had back-to-back second-place finishes in the state high jump, finally earned gold in 2002. He defeated Plantation American Heritage's Rashawn Rembert in a jump-off with family and friends in attendance, leaping 6 feet, 5 inches. 9. SOCCER STREAK ENDS: Girls soccer came to the county in 1995. Citrus waited until 2002 to lose its first game to an area rival. After 18 straight unsuccessful tries against the Hurricanes, Lecanto defeated Citrus 2-1 in a district final to give the Panthers their first title. The 'Canes beat Lecanto 1-0 and 4-0 in the regular season, and they had defeated the Panthers in four straight district finals. 10. BASEBALL'S IRONMAN VISITS COUNTY: Cal Ripken Jr., who retired in 2001 after 21 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles and owns the record for consecutive games played, attended the ninth annual Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame induction ceremony in February. Ripken is best known for playing in 2,632 straight games, which surpassed the mark of 2,130 set by Lou Gehrig.
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