Community sports | Out-of-state schools dominate second week of IMG National Classic
After settling for a middle-of-the pack finish at the first week of the IMG National Classic, IMG Academy bounced back for a third-place performance during the second and final week of the baseball tournament in Bradenton, edging Troup County from LaGrange, Ga., 5-4.
The second week of the event at IMG Academy was dominated by out-of-state programs.
Los Angeles' Harvard-Westlake routed St. John's College from Washington, D.C., 8-1 in the championship game Friday, and players from the two teams were named both Most Valuable Player and Most Valuable Pitcher of the week. Wolverines infielder John Thomas, a USC commit, earned MVP honors, and St. John's Jacob Steinberg, who is committed to Miami, was the Most Valuable Pitcher.
Only two other Florida teams joined IMG at the second week of the tournament, and neither made it out of the second round. Windermere Prep stumbled in Round 2 against Harvard-Westlake and Spring Hill Bishop McLaughlin bowed out in the opening round against Troup.
Pembroke Pines Somerset Academy previously edged Tampa Berkeley Prep to win Week 1 of the IMG National Classic.
Gladiators blank X-Men, but settle for wild card spot
The Southwest Florida Gladiators ran their winning streak up to five straight games Saturday with a 48-0 win against the Jax X-Men -- their second straight by at least 40 points -- but their outside hope at winning the North Division of the Florida Football Alliance , an adult amateur football league, faded.
The Tampa Bay Patriots, who the Gladiators welcome to Lakewood Ranch Park on Saturday for the regular-season finale, eked out a 6-0 win against the Orlando Rattlers to lock up the top spot in the division at 9-0. Southwest Florida (7-2) can seal the top wild-card spot with a win Saturday.
All teams will have a week off after the regular season concludes this weekend before the FFA quarterfinals begin April 23. The Gladiators are the defending FFA champions.
STB State gets rescheduled
Rain across Manatee County on Saturday meant the rescheduling of one of the biggest Suncoast Travel Ball Tournaments of the season.
Now the STB State Championship is slated for a Friday start. The three-day event will conclude with championship games Sunday. The decision to postpone the entire event tied directly into the significance of the tournament.
"We feel with this being a State Championship, in order to keep the integrity of this tournament that it's best for us to just re-schedule," a post on STB's Facebook page said, "instead of trying to cram it into a blind draw or turbo-type Sunday-only event."
This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 12:33 AM with the headline "Community sports | Out-of-state schools dominate second week of IMG National Classic ."