By Rod Gipson
MaxPreps.com
If the current youth movement is a sign of the times, the Tampa Bay-area softball scene appears to be in good shape for years to come.
Several newcomers on the local prep softball season are off to hot starts with breakout performances.
Tampa Berkeley Prep eighth-grade pitcher Jenny Weissman leads Hillsborough County in strikeouts with 85. Weissman is just 3-4 on the season, but has been impressive of late with shutout wins in three of her last four games. Weissman has a 0.78 ERA on the year.
Meanwhile, Dade City Pasco freshman pitcher Courtney Brandt and sophomore infielder Megan Newsome have been a formidable duo. Brandt tossed a no-hitter last week against Spring Hill Springstead and Newsome had two home runs during a double header against Land O’ Lakes Sunlake.
And Clearwater Countryside freshman pitcher Alyssa Bache has been equally impressive. Throwing at the Class 6A level, the state’s highest, and in the tough 6A-7 district, Bache is 6-0 and threw a no-hitter in just her fifth prep start against a solid team in Tarpon Springs East Lake.
College signings
Despite national signing day being a month ago, a flood of Tampa Bay-area athletes continue to sign with colleges and universities.
Tampa Hillsborough football player Erik Fennell has committed to Murray State in Kentucky. Fennell, 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, played quarterback and defensive back for the Terriers. He had 37 tackles and one interception in 2007.
Also, Land O’ Lakes fullback/linebacker John Weatherford will play at West Georgia University. Weatherford missed his entire senior season with a knee injury suffered just before the 2007 season started. Still, Weatherford (6-2, 210 pounds) is projected as a linebacker at West Georgia, a Division II program in Carrollton, Georgia.
Tampa Catholic basketball player Alex Doyle will play at Division III University of Chicago. A 6-7 forward, Doyle averaged 12 points and six rebounds this season for the Crusaders. And Lithia Newsome soccer players Jaime Smith and Rudi Rodriguez have announced their plans. Smith, a midfielder will attend Saint Leo University in St. Leo, Florida and Rodriguez, a defender, will play at University of Troy in Alabama.
Meanwhile, standout Dunedin running back Darius Bellamy has committed to South Florida – a year early.
Bellamy has orally committed to USF after his junior season. A 5-9, 220-pound bruising runner, Bellamy amassed 1,938 yards and 22 touchdowns. Bellamy already had received offers from Clemson and Ole Miss.
Track & Field Highlights
Tampa Gaither’s girls and Tampa Hillsborough’s boys took titles at the Nash Higgins Relays, the first large track meet of the season.
Led by strong performances in their field events, the Terriers’ boys captured the championship. Hillsborough’s Terrance Mitchell set a meet record with a 24-foot, 1-1/2 inch leap.
Meanwhile, the Gaither girls, led by relay standouts Yesenia Perez, Morgan Scherschel and anchor Ashley Nieuwendam, won the 4x110 and 4x330 hurdles events.
The area’s most dominant girls track team, Tampa Wharton, did not compete at the relays. But the Wharton girls captured their first win of the season days later at the Charles Johnson Invitational – topping Gaither’s girls 135.5 to 123.5.
Wharton earned the win by taking the top four spots in the 3,200 meter run. Katrina Skinner and twin sister Kathia Skinner finished first and second in that race.
Baseball No-Hitters
A Tampa Wharton hurler and a collection of Tampa Cambridge Christian pitchers posted no-hit performances last week.
Wharton’s Andrew Virgili threw the first no-hitter in Wharton history on March 5, an 8-0 win against Tampa Bay Tech. Virgili, a senior, struck out 12 batters, walking just two. It was just his third start as a high school pitcher.
Meanwhile, Cambridge pitchers Peter Miller, Andrew Widell and Logan McDougall combined to no hit Tampa Bay Christian on March 5. Miller and Widell threw two innings each and McDougall pitched the last inning.
There have been five no hitters in Hillsborough County this baseball season and an additional one took place last week in Pinellas County.