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The Buzz

By IZZY GOULD
Published March 22, 2007

Calling it a career

Vince Chalecki got an offer he couldn't refuse.

And that's why Wesley Chapel's all-time leading tackler is calling it a career.

Chalecki has decided to flex his mind instead of his muscles and has accepted an academic scholarship to attend the University of Tampa.

Chalecki's career took a hit when he suffered a knee injury his junior year. His never has never fully recovered.

He had an offer to play at Jacksonville University and an invitation to visit the University of Dayton. In the end, Chalecki put more value on his health.

"I don't want to deal with it for four more years," Chalecki said. "I want to be able to walk when I get older. The surgeries and stuff, I don't want that. There's more to life than just football."

Chalecki was the Pasco Times' Defensive Player of the Year after logging 143 tackles with a torn meniscus. He plans to study business administration at Tampa.

The ups and downs of softball

One minute Julie Wisniewski is lying flat on her back on the infield dirt wondering what the heck clobbered her left eye. The next day she is signing a letter of intent for a scholarship at Pasco-Hernando Community College.

The Bucs senior shortstop is recovering from a line drive that deflected off her glove and clipped her left eye Tuesday, leaving a welt on her cheek bone in a 9-0 win at Zephyrhills. After popping a couple of Advil and taking the morning to rest her eye, Wisniewski was back at practice ready to sign with PHCC coach Tom Ryan.

Wisniewski and Gulf coach Rick Hohenthaner have been in contact with Ryan throughout the season. Ryan was ready to sign Wisniewski on the spot after a Sunday tryout, but she had to hurry off to work.

They made it official Wednesday.

"It is everything I've wanted," Wisniewski said. "It pays for school, and I love playing. As long as I'm playing softball I'm happy."

Izzy Gould can be reached at igould@tampabay.com or 727 580-5315.

The race is on

Nothing has officially been sewn up yet in the race for softball's Class 4A, District 8 tournament seeding. But with a few games left there seems to be more certainty than not with where teams might end up.

- Pasco should take the No. 1 seed barring some miraculous two-game sweep by Hudson. Cobras coach Crissy Cooper says her team is getting better and when asked what she thought about playing the role of spoiler, she said, "I would love to."

- Zephyrhills has one remaining district game against Hernando, so it looks like the Bulldogs hold the No. 3 seed despite a slight slide as of late.

- Gulf has come on strong, but Bucs coach Rick Hohenthaner has played out every scenario and is convinced his team is stuck as the No. 4 seed regardless of whether it wins the final three district games. A loss Friday at Springstead could drop the Bucs to No. 5.

- It has been a rough season for Hudson, but the good news about the district tournament is that the final two teams advance. So there's a chance, right?

The standings prior to Wednesday's games.

1. Pasco (14-3, 10-1)

2. Hernando (14-4, 9-2)

3. Zephyrhills (11-6, 9-4)

4. Gulf (9-5, 6-5)

5. Springstead (8-6, 6-5)

6. Nature Coast (5-10, 3-10)

7. South Sumter (5-11, 3-5)

8. Hudson (1-14, 0-9)

[Last modified March 22, 2007, 00:15:50]