Pinellas: News and Notes

By Times Staff
Published August 29, 2007

By the numbers

7 County teams that scored 30 or more points in last week's preseason games.

Did you know?

Friday's game between St. Petersburg and Northeast is the 52nd meeting between the schools. The only interruption in the series came in 1993 and '94 when they were in districts that involved teams outside the county.

Canterbury football duo rejoins team

Canterbury's two top players, WR Johnny Lancaster, above, and QB/DB Brandon Hamilton, below, have rejoined the team following a flirtation with a prestigious wooden bat baseball league.

The duo shocked the team a few weeks ago, saying they would skip football to focus on their baseball futures. But at halftime of the Crusaders' 27-0 loss Friday to the Masters Academy, they had a change of heart.

"It's a great thing for us," coach Steve Dudley said. "We felt like we were going into a gun battle with a butter knife."

Grass not greener

Tarpon Springs will host Friday's season-opening football game against Palm Harbor.

After that, the Spongers will be without a home field for a while.

The field is pockmarked with enough holes that the county athletic office decided to ban Tarpon Springs from playing and practicing there until the problem is fixed.

That should take about six weeks, Spongers coach George Kotis said.

Tarpon Springs was scheduled to play four of its next five games on the road. The only game affected is the Sept. 28 home game that was moved to Countryside.

Bat ban upheld

A judge on Tuesday upheld New York's ban on metal bats in high school baseball games, saying it was not his place to overturn a law that was approved by a local government with the public's safety in mind. U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl said there is no clear evidence that metal bats cause more serious injuries than wooden bats, but added the City Council is entitled to make the judgment that the risk is too great.

"The protection of the health and safety of high school-age students is entitled to great weight," the judge said. "While the record does not include clear empirical evidence showing that more serious injuries would occur without the ordinance, it is the city's legislative assessment that the risk is too great."

The law is set to take effect Saturday.

The ban had been challenged by an organization representing national high school baseball coaches, several companies that make metal bats, and coaches and parents of New York City high school baseball players. The law resulted from claims that today's metal bats cause balls to go farther and faster, heightening the risk of injuries.

Bob Putnamcan be reached at putnam@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4169. Brandon Wright can be reached at bwright@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2216.

[Last modified August 29, 2007, 00:56:17]