Plant City having a presence at the annual Under Armour Combine is nothing new. But this year, two of the area’s best juniors got to experience it from a new perspective. Plant City’s Sawyer Dawson and Strawberry Crest’s Austin Carswell made the trek Jan. 2, to Tropicana Field — with sideline passes, granting them the […]
Continue ReadingBaker, Dawson try out for USA Women’s Baseball
Although Plant City was represented by two ballplayers in last week’s USA Baseball Women’s tryouts, only Chelsea Baker had played baseball before. The Durant High School junior, along with Plant City High School grad Kendall Dawson, traveled last week to Florida Atlantic University, in Boca Raton, with hopes of making the national team in August. […]
Continue ReadingWHAT’S ON KLINE’S MIND? Pro athletes are human, too
Because most of us watched Sunday’s NFC and AFC championship games, we got to witness what automatically became an all-time classic of a post-game interview. For those of you who didn’t catch the 49ers-Seahawks evening tilt — which was great, by the way — things got a little heated at the end, when Seattle’s Richard […]
Continue ReadingATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Malik Channer
The Strawberry Crest boys basketball team wrapped up district play Jan. 17, with a 60-43 win over Brandon, led by senior guard Malik Channer and his 26 points. The next day, Channer dropped 20 points on Lakeland in a 56-52 loss at the Polk State College MLK Holiday Shootout. Channer, the team’s leading scorer at […]
Continue ReadingRoss announces bid for re-election
U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross announced plans to run for re-election Jan. 21, speaking to a crowd at American Legion Post 26, in Plant City. “As I look back at my history, it’s like in that Rodney Atkins song: ‘These are my people, this is where I come from,’” Ross said. After a brief introduction by […]
Continue ReadingPCHS baseball refreshed, renewed
Save for a few rough patches of grass near the bullpen, Plant City High School’s baseball field looks immaculate. The ryegrass is fresh, the clay is bright, and everything else looks more like a high school field than the makeshift diamond of “The Sandlot.” It’s second-year coach Mike Fryrear’s labor of love and, for now, […]
Continue ReadingPlant City kicks off annual MLK celebration
The staff of the Martin Luther King Recreation Center has big plans for this coming weekend. The recreation center will host its annual four-day MLK Festival, celebrating the life and achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And, this year, the plans are as big as ever. To kick things off, the center will host […]
Continue ReadingATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Pedro Mendoza
As a captain, Plant City High School’s sweeper was there for all of the highs and lows of the 2013-14 season. The junior defender played through injury when he had to, and helped guide the Raiders to a 4-1-2 district record — good for second place. For his hard work in this past week’s King […]
Continue ReadingWHAT’S ON KLINE’S MIND: Baseball Hall of Fame voting raises questions
If you tuned in to any sports network this week, you’ve probably heard something about the Baseball Hall of Fame’s voting process. If you tuned in to ESPN, then you probably witnessed a lot of hand-wringing. Dan Le Batard’s decision to turn his ballot over to readers of Deadspin.com created a huge controversy in the […]
Continue ReadingSidelines 01.16.14
FOOTBALL + East falls short in All-American Bowl Although Montel McBride and his Semper Fi East teammates didn’t leave California with a win, they were happy to get some national exposure. Fox Sports 1 broadcast the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl on Jan. 5, and the West team won, 31-24. Speaking of McBride, national recruiting website Rivals.com […]
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