Florida Burn, Cortez Stone Crabs win at Gold Glove baseball tourney

Four teams from Manatee County reached championship games at the third annual Fall Gold Glove Suncoast Travel Ball baseball tournament in Sarasota and Bradenton this weekend, and two of those finished off their divisions to win championships Saturday in the United States Specialty Sports Association-affiliated league.

Bradenton’s Florida Burn 13U rolled past Kissimmee’s FTB Panthers, 6-0, in the championship game to win the 13 open division at the Babe Ruth League in Sarasota and the Cortez Stone Crabs pulled out a 1-0 win against Naples’ PDC Cobras at Buffalo Creek Park in Palmetto to win the 12 AA division.

The Palmetto Yankees wound up falling just short in the 14 open division, falling to Warriors Baseball of Brandon, 8-6, in the championship game at Lakewood Ranch Little League. Bradenton’s Lightning Baseball dropped the sophomore open championship 6-0 to Orlando Scorpions West at Babe Ruth to finish second in its division.

The Orlando Scorpions were the only club to win in multiple divisions, also claiming victory in 14 major. Stance Doctor Bulls Green of Seminole won the 13 major division, Lithia’s Florida Express won 12 open, the Sarasota Shock won 11 open, the Tampa Diamond Kings won 11 major, the TBSA Patriots of Clearwater won 10 open and Tampa Bay Legends 9U won in 9 open.

Wildcats win rivalry meeting with Trojans

The Manatee Wildcats and Palmetto Trojans met for a trio of Pop Warner Little Scholars football games at the Palmetto Youth Center on Saturday, and the Wildcats came away with three victories. Manatee began the day with a 28-0 blowout in the mighty mites division and then finished the day by winning a rubber match with Palmetto in pee wee, 24-20. In between, the junior pee wee Trojans eked out a 7-6 win against the Wildcats in Palmetto.

The Manatee Mustangs were one of the weekend’s big winners, sweeping four games against the Palm Harbor Panthers in mostly convincing fashion. The Mustangs won their junior pee wee, pee wee and junior varsity games against the Panthers all by at least 16 points after scratching out a 14-6 win against Palm Harbor to start the day at Mustang Field.

The North Manatee Storm and East Manatee Bulldogs both had up-and-down days at home. The Bulldogs split four games at Lakewood Ranch Park, routing the Antioch Red Skins in mighty mites and beating the Wesley Chapel Cowboys in pee wee, but losing in a blowout to the Carrollwood Hurricanes in junior pee wee and dropping a low-scoring game to the Valrico Rams in junior varsity.

At Buffalo Creek Park, the Storm finished the day with a 40-0 win against the Dade City Wildcats after dropping mighty mites and junior pee wee games to them earlier in the day in Palmetto.

FSPL stops in Manatee County

The Florida State Premier League is one of the state’s premier teenage soccer leagues and this weekend it will stop at the Premier Sports Campus at Lakewood Ranch for two days in Manatee County.

Play will begin at the Premier Sports Campus on Saturday and finish up Sunday. Full schedules are available at FYSA.com.

This story was originally published September 12, 2016 at 6:52 PM with the headline "Florida Burn, Cortez Stone Crabs win at Gold Glove baseball tourney."