Rebels, Scrappers win at Wreaking Havoc baseball tournament

Suncoast Travel Ball was back in Bradenton this weekend for the sixth annual Wreaking Havoc baseball tournament and two Manatee County teams will go into the Thanksgiving break on a winning streak.

Rebels Baseball, a club drawing players from Sarasota and Bradenton, edged Riverview’s Rockets Baseball to win the sophomore open division at Palma Sola Park on Sunday and Parrish’s Scrappers routed Bradenton’s Florida Surge, 14-4, to win the 12AA division at Buffalo Creek Park in Palmetto.

The Surge were also one of three county teams to reach the championship round of the United States Specialty Sports Association-sanctioned tournament. The Palmetto Yankee’s fell short against Tampa’s Hit Factory Legends in the 14AA division at G.T. Bray Park and the Cortez Stone Crabs stumbled against Fort Myers’ Jokers Baseball in the 11AA championship at the Lakewood Ranch Baseball Complex.

Suncoast Travel Ball (STB) also had a tournament in St. Augustine over the weekend, although no local teams competed in the St. Augustine Gold Glove Championship.

Thanksgiving is a week off for STB before the league returns to Sarasota and Bradenton on Dec. 2 for the sixth annual Suncoast Athletics Toys for Tots tournament. Newberry will also host its first North Florida Toys for Tots tournament the same weekend.

IMG Academy welcomes 30th Herr

The Eddie Herr Invitational tennis tournament will begin in Bradenton for the 30th time Wednesday with the first round of qualification. More than 1,300 boys and girls from more than 70 countries will compete in four divisions at IMG Academy for the next two weeks, hoping to join the likes of past champions Maria Sharapova, Marin Cilic and Andy Roddick.

The main draw begins next Monday and kicks off a week of action at IMG. Singles finals take place Dec. 4. Thirty of the International Tennis Federation’s top-100 boys and 26 of the top-100 girls are slated to compete in the 18s divisions. Other divisions are for 12s, 14s and 16s.

The International Tennis Federation’s No. 2 boy is the top Ascender in the field. Miomir Kecmanovic, who trains at IMG, headlines the 18s division three years after winning the 14s division at the Eddie Herr. Kecmanovic became the second Ascender to win the Orange Bowl last year in Miami. Emiliana Arango, the top ranked Colombian girl and No. 82 overall, is IMG’s top-ranked player in the girls 18s field.

Draws and schedules will be posted on the Herr’s website after players check-in later this week.

This story was originally published November 21, 2016 at 11:47 PM with the headline "Rebels, Scrappers win at Wreaking Havoc baseball tournament."