Saint Stephen’s sweeps into second round of regional tennis tournament
Saint Stephen’s boys and girls tennis teams marched into the second round of the Class 1A-Region 5 playoffs with lopsided home victories on Tuesday. The boys team swept Evangelical Christian School 5-0. The girls team, led by MaryAnn Rompf, beat Community School of Naples 4-1.
Chen He Li set the tone for the boys match when he blanked Joseph Manib, 6-0, 6-0. No Falcon dropped more than three games in their match.
Rompf lost two games to Lily Douchnis at No. 1. Eva Tasemir (No. 2) and Allie Serterides (No. 5) were equally dominant.
In Thursday’s second round, the Falcons boys will play host to Out-of-Door Academy, and the Falcons girls will play Fort Myers Canterbury, which defeated Out-of-Door 7-0. The Thunder’s Sydney Sforza and Maddy Reece fell 6-3, 6-4, and Lara Felsman and Sima Kosaceva lost 6-2, 7-5 in doubles, setting the tone for the rest of the girls match. Josh Samuel led the Thunder boys, winning his No. 1 match in three sets, 6-1, 4-6, 10-6.
In Class 2A-Region 6, Fort Myers Bishop Verot beat both the Southeast boys and girls teams. The Seminoles boys fell 5-0. The Seminoles girls lost 4-0.
Baseball
Bradenton Christian 14, Admiral Farragut 4: Austen Kessler produced three hits, including a home run, and drove in three to lead the hosts in a game shortened to six innings by the 10-run rule. A.J. Schewe added two hits, two runs scored and four RBIs for Bradenton Christian (8-12), which plays St. Petersburg Catholic on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Luke Williams struck out six over three innings to earn the win.
Saint Stephen’s 9, Sarasota Christian 1: The host Falcons scored once in the first inning and blew the game open with six in the fifth inning. Ben Tobio and Niko Piccolo paced Saint Stephen’s eight-hit attack. Both collected two hits, two runs scored and two RBIs. Ross Springstead also had two hits. Caleb Eyre scattered five hits and struck out five en route to the complete-game victory. Saint Stephen’s (11-7) next plays host to Out-of-Door Academy on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
Northside Christian 8, Out-of-Door Academy 5: Nick Saranczak collected two hits, including a double, and an RBI to lead the Thunder (17-3-2, 9-3-1) in the loss in St. Petersburg. Owen Ragsdale (0-1) took the loss for Out-of-Door Academy.
Braden River 3, Riverview 0 (8): Ian McLean’s pinch-hit single drove in the first run in a three-run eighth to lift the visiting Pirates. Miclayne Powell followed with a two-run single. Andre Fonseca scattered three hits over seven shutout innings for the win. Braden River (14-7) next plays Wednesday at Sarasota at 7 p.m. Casey Rose earned his first save of the season.
Softball
Braden River 5, Manatee 0: Braden River (19-5) hit four solo home runs at G. T. Bray Park to back pitcher Maddie Lindsley’s complete game. Sarah Crawford hit two, and Myah Moy and Kali Reis had one each. The Pirates play Venice on Wednesday for senior night.
Southeast 11, Bradenton Christian 5: Jurnee Bennett pitched a complete game and went 2 for 4 at the plate for the host Seminoles. Bennett scattered six hits, struck out four, walked two and allowed two earned runs on senior night. Leading the offense were Dezha Bell (4 for 4, two runs, RBI), Cameron Crowell (3 for 4, triple, three RBIs), Faith Bruce (2 for 5) and Ivy Turner (2 for 4, RBI).
This story was originally published April 18, 2017 at 11:23 PM with the headline "Saint Stephen’s sweeps into second round of regional tennis tournament."