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Fossil Park savors surprise state win

By EMERY SKOLFIELD
Published July 23, 2006

Zack Snell, the catcher and No. 6 pitcher for Fossil Park Youth Baseball's 9-under All-Star team, threw six gutsy innings for a 10-7 victory over the top-seeded Tallahassee Heat in the Dizzy Dean state title game.

Snell, who was expected to last two or three innings, fell behind 4-0 after two innings but hung in long enough for Fossil Park's offense to come alive.

A five-run third inning supplied Fossil Park with its first lead, and the team went on to amass 13 hits, including three each from Bret Maxwell and Riley Barr. Maxwell and Barr drove in three runs each, while Jason Mugavero and Chris LaBrie each had two hits.

Snell, meanwhile, scattered 10 hits and seven runs over six innings for Fossil Park, which advanced to the 9-under Dizzy Dean Baseball World Series in Southaven, Miss. World Series play began Saturday.

"We never expected to win that game after all the things we'd heard about that Tallahassee team," Fossil Park coach Phil Mugavero said of the Heat, which had averaged 14 runs in three previous victories. "Snell threw pretty slow, and they just couldn't hit him."

Team members are Snell, Barr, Chase Campbell, Michael Chadwell, Mike Ferrandiz, Jason Hiers, Maxwell, Jason Mugavero, Connor Russell, Brien Story, Tim Garrett Thomason and Colton Tison.

Coaches are Mugavero, Greg Maxwell, Robert Russell and Tim Story.

After second-place finishes in their respective state tournaments, the 13-under and 8-under All-Star teams from the Northwest Youth Baseball League qualified for the Dizzy Dean World Series in Southaven.

Robbie Williams pitched Northwest's 13-under team to three victories at state, while Clay Hansen belted two home runs and three doubles during the tournament in Tallahassee.

Team members for the 13-under team are Williams, Hansen, Dylan Benedict, Tyler Brown, Sean Curran, Chris Derby, Michael Lakus, Adam Lewis, Dakota McLean, Nate Plaines, Tyler Rankin, Chris Sanchez, Jordan Weir and Clarence Wilson.

The 8-under team consists of Triston Allen, Clayton Bonalewicz, Tyler Cobane, Richard Costi, Nathan Eorgan, Nick Hardesty, Tanner Lawrence, Andrew Martinez, Sean McDowell, Ben Plaines, Brett Shavers, Garrett Sullivan and Dylan Yancey.

With a berth in the Dizzy Dean World Series title game at stake, the 6-under All-Stars from Pinellas Park PONY Youth Baseball fell to Dayton, Tenn., on July 19 at the Henry County (Ga.) Parks and Recreation Complex.

Competing in the consolation bracket of the 7-under Dizzy Dean nationals, Fossil Park fell to eventual champion Rome, Ga., on July 15 in the first round.

SWIMMING: Competing against some of swimming's best, members of the St. Petersburg Aquatics club fared well at the SPEEDO Champions Series Southern Zone South Sectional Championship July 12-16 in Fort Lauderdale.

Megan Romano finished second in the 200-meter freestyle (two minutes, 3.38 seconds) behind Olympian Margaret Hoelzer and placed third in the 100 and 400 freestyles.

Romano, 15, added a fifth-place finish in the 100 backstroke and was sixth in both the 200 back and 50 free to finish second among all female competitors with 113 points - three behind Hoelzer, an Athens Olympian.

Tracy Rorer was 10th in the 100 breaststroke and 13th in the 200 breast for St. Pete Aquatics, which was 10th among 55 teams represented with 297 points.

Tyler Reed won all nine events he entered for a perfect score of 99 in the 13-14 boys division. Other high-point winners for the Piranhas were Myah Farrington (13-14 girls), Emily Bloxam (11-12 girls) and Jake Danikowski (8-under boys).

The Bardmoor Aquatic Team also competed at the Strawberry Invite, with Cassidy Slockett (8-under) and Robert Slockett (10-under) notching high-point honors in their respective divisions.

Times correspondent Emery Skolfield can be reached at (727) 481-2027 or sptimesyouth@yahoo.com.

[Last modified July 22, 2006, 20:41:10]