Pinellas: News and Notes

By Times staff
Published August 30, 2007

today on tampabay.com

- High schools columnist John C. Cotey talks with new Pasco football coach Tom McHugh, who almost quit in the preseason after his daughter was seriously injured in a car accident.

- Listen in as our team of experts gives you the inside info on the week's most crucial matchups in our Friday Night Preview podcast.

Weber on Pan-Am team

Clearwater Central Catholic's Ryan Weber, the Times' 2007 pitcher of the year, was selected to play with the USA Junior National Team in the Pan-Am Junior Championships in Ixtapa, Mexico.

Last year, the right-handerthrew the first no-hitter in the youth national team's history and was named MVP of the Youth National Team Pan-Am Baseball Championships.

Galante just keeps rolling

Ashly Galante, a standout bowler who graduated from Tarpon Springs in May, won three gold medals team event, all event singles and national team event at the Tournament of the Americas in Fort Lauderdale this month.

Galante, 18, won the 2007 Teen Masters National Championship last month in Las Vegas.

Harris to Hargrove

Former St. Petersburg Catholic receiver Andrew Harris did not qualify academically at West Virginia and will enroll at Hargrove Military Academy in Virginia. Harris, a first-team selection to the Times' all-county team, caught 32 passes for 877 yards and nine touchdowns last season.

Clarification

County athletic director Nick Grasso said his office has not made a decision regarding the playing field at Tarpon Springs' football stadium.

Sanders shines

Jock Sanders, a former teammate of Andrew Harris' at St. Petersburg Catholic, is doing well at West Virginia. Sanders, a first-team, all-county selection who had 1,467 yards rushing, 236 receiving and 24 touchdowns last season, is in a battle with former North Fort Myers star Noel Devine for the No. 2 spot at running back behind Steve Slaton.

Volleyball shuffle

Several county volleyball matches have been rescheduled due to a lack of officials, and more shuffling may be on the way.

"There is a definite concern about this situation," county athletic director Nick Grasso said. "We've had to make some concessions because right now we're dealing with very limited resources."

Some teams will have to travel to get their matches in. For example, Clearwater was originally set to play Sept. 10 at Dunedin. Due to the changes, that match will be played at 6:15 p.m. at Largo before the Packers' match against Boca Ciega on Sept. 10, essentially making it a road match for Largo and Clearwater.

"I hadn't even heard about that yet," Clearwater coach Tracy Sedely said. "It'll be weird. Maybe they need to relook at the number of matches we're playing in the first place."

By the numbers

1 Football games this week involving county teams that each finished better than .500 last year (hint, it's Largo-East Lake).

Bob Putnam can 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 30, 2007, 01:24:14]