Community sports | Ascenders win third straight title at IMG Nationals
For the third straight year, IMG Academy is the champion of the highest age group at its own lacrosse tournament. The IMG Varsity team completed its three-peat in the high school elite/varsity division at IMG Nationals with a 10-7 win against Lacrosse Club of Orlando in the championship game.
The tournament, which also saw champions from Georgia and New Jersey, has been held in Bradenton since 2013 and crowns the winners as "national champions." The Ascenders also fielded a team in the high school JV division -- IMG JV -- which netted a third-place finish. Brotherhood Lacrosse from Midland Park, N.J., edged Maryland's MDX 2018 for the JV crown.
U15 and U13 championships were also contested, although no Manatee County teams competed in those. Team Atlanta toppled Texas United, 15-8, in the 15U championship game and SWARM Orlando edged Atlanta, 7-5, for the 13U title.
IMG is just getting started with events season now that its football team is done for the year. Beginning Wednesday, the campus will host the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis tournament and in December the Ascenders welcome the USL Super Y Finals Soccer Tournament to Bradenton.
The Eddie Herr runs for nearly two weeks, beginning the day before Thanksgiving and concluding Dec. 6. It's one
of the biggest junior tennis tournaments in the world and has been played in Bradenton since 1993. Past winners include Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, Anna Kournikova, Madison Keys and Grigor Dimitrov.
Riverdawgs, Piranhas win
Three Manatee County teams played in title games at the Wreaking Havoc Championship on Sunday and two took advantage of their home-field edge to win of the biggest Suncoast Travelball baseball tournaments so far this season.
The Riverdawgs cruised through the 14U American division, scoring at least nine runs in three of their four games, including a 9-0 win against Havoc in the championship game. The WC Stingers Purple were the only team to test the Riverdawgs, falling by two runs in the first game of the tournament and by one in the quarterfinals.
The Piranhas, who are based out of Parrish, were just as dominant in the 13U American, scoring at least eight in four of their five games. The Piranhas outscored their opponents 19-1 in their two games during the first day of the tournament and, after edging the SWFL Giants by one in the semifinals, the Piranhas blew out the SWFL Starz, 8-2, in the championship game.
In the 13U National division, the Marauders overcame an 0-2 opening day to reach the final, where they fell to Venice's FL Burn Navy, 9-1.
David B. Wilson, sports reporter, can be reached at 745-7057 or via email at dwilson@bradenton.com. Follow him on Twitter @DBWilson2.
This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 11:59 PM with the headline "Community sports | Ascenders win third straight title at IMG Nationals ."