Rain washes out Little League Baseball district semifinal in Palmetto
Lakewood Ranch and Braden River will have to wait another day to see who will play for a spot in Florida’s Section IV Little League Baseball championship. Rain washed away Thursday’s District 26 majors division semifinal between Lakewood Ranch and Braden River at Buffalo Creek Park in Palmetto.
The makeup game will be played Friday at 7 p.m. at a location to be determined. The Buffalo Creek Park is not available on Friday. The winner will advance to play Buffalo Creek on Saturday. Lakewood Ranch or Braden River would need to beat Buffalo Creek twice before Buffalo Creek wins once to claim the district title.
The Section IV tournament will pit the Manatee County district champions against teams from Districts 4, 13 and 25, and will be held at Lakewood Ranch Park. The tournaments will span two weekends from July 7-9 and July 14-16.
Marauders plan patriotic celebration
The Marauders will celebrate Independence Day a few days early this season. LECOM Park will play host to its July 4 celebration Saturday with a game against the Fire Frogs in Bradenton.
Festivities will begin at the front gate, where the Pirates’ Class A Advanced affiliate will hand out Independence Day T-shirts to the first 2,000 fans. The team will don special July 4 uniforms, too — the Marauders will wear unique caps, and red, white and blue jerseys, which will be available for auction online and at the ballpark. Auction winners will be invited on to the field after the game to have their jerseys signed.
The headliner, as always, is the postgame fireworks show, which will be presented by Zambelli Fireworks. Another aerial display will take place during the national anthem, when the Para-Commandos will parachute down on to the field.
Gates will open at 4:30 p.m. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Gage Hinsz is scheduled to start for Bradenton against Ricardo Sanchez for the Braves’ Florida State League team.
Gold Cup trophy comes to Tampa Bay
The U.S. men’s national team will play host to Martinique for a CONCACAF Gold Cup group stage soccer game at Raymond James Stadium on July 12, and the Cup’s trophy will be spending some time in Tampa. Tony Meola, a former goalkeeper for the United States, will escort the Gold Cup through the Tampa Bay area during the days leading up to the game.
Meola will be at Shimberg Sports Complex in Tampa on July 11 to help refurbish the Tampa sports complex on the eve of the game.
The U.S.’s game against Martinique will be its second of this round of group play. The United States opens up against Panama on July 8 in Nashville.
The game in Tampa is scheduled for 9 p.m.
David Wilson: 941-745-7057, @DBWilson2
This story was originally published June 29, 2017 at 9:35 PM with the headline "Rain washes out Little League Baseball district semifinal in Palmetto."