Pinellas: News and Notes

By Bob Putnam
Published February 22, 2008

Henriott throws out first pitch - at Holy Names

How much respect do folks at Academy of the Holy Names have for former St. Petersburg Catholic pitcher Deanna Henriott? Well, they invited her to throw out the first pitch of Wednesday night's SPC-AHN game in Tampa.

"Deanna is a great kid and was an awesome pitcher," AHN athletic director Pete Young said. "It was nice of her to drop by."

Henriott, an all-Suncoast performer who graduated last year, now plays for the University of Tampa. Among those who helped arrange her appearance at AHN were Ben and Laurie Vyzas, parents of Jaguars catcher Becky Vyzas. Becky, who is an all-county performer, will be one of Henriott's teammates next year at UT.

With Henriott watching Wednesday, SPC won 4-0.

Check it out

Catch 47 will air Saturday night's region boys basketball final, Lakewood 27-2 at Pinellas Park (25-4), 7 p.m. The teams met twice this season with the visiting team winning each time.

Spring stats

The Times will begin publishing baseball and softball statistics and standings next week. Coaches are reminded to send updated stats via fax at (813) 909-4611 or e-mail to bburns@sptimes.com (softball) or bputnam@sptimes.com (baseball) no later than Wednesday afternoon each week.

Ryan in 3-point final

Clearwater's Veronica Ryan is the lone county girls basketball player to compete in the Class 5A finals of the Florida High School Athletic Association's 3-point contest.

Ryan, a sophomore, made it by winning district and region titles the past two weeks. The championship round starts today at 2:50 p.m. at the Lakeland Center.

The statewide contest, in its second season, gives each shooter 45 seconds to shoot three racks of five balls each from designated 3-point spots on the floor. Each basket made counts as one point.

This is the second straight season the Tornadoes have had someone in the final. Last year, Keona Dixon finished third at state.

[Last modified February 21, 2008, 18:46:54]