Blessin named Thompson Player of the Year
Ashley Blessin received one of the top softball awards in Hillsborough County on May 16.
Blessin won the 2019 Jack and Barbara Thompson Hillsborough Softball Player of the Year award for another outstanding season on the mound for Plant City High School. The senior won 20 games (22 complete games, 15 shutouts, four no-hitters, one perfect game) and posted an ERA of 0.12 with 379 strikeouts in 179.1 innings of work. She broke the 1,000 career strikeout mark this postseason and finished with 1,059 to her name.
Baseball tourneys on deck
Florida USSSA Baseball’s Ultimate Florida Championship III tournament will use multiple fields at Plant City Stadium, Randy L. Larson Softball Four-Plex, Mike Sansone Park, Ellis-Methvin Park and the MLK Complex this Saturday and Sunday. The tourney runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.
Global Sports Alliance’s High Heater Classic tournament will come to Plant City next weekend. The tourney runs from June 1 through June 2 at Ellis-Methvin Park, Mike Sansone Park, Snowden Park, Plant City Stadium, the Randy L. Larson Softball Four-Plex and the MLK complex. Games run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
Summer tennis offerings
The Plant City Tennis Center will have plenty to offer in the coming summer months.
Sessions of youth tennis lessons for all skill levels will start June 3, June 24 and July 19. Tots (age 4-7) meet at 8:15 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays while beginners through advanced students (age 8-12) meet at 9 a.m. Mondays and Wednesdays. Tots lessons cost $30 per session and the others cost $60 per session.
The Ladies Summer Doubles Tennis League runs from June 5 through July 31 and will have matches at 9 a.m. on Wednesdays. The doubles format is two out of three matched with a 10-point third set match tie breaker if needed. Twelve teams will be able to register and pass holders at the tennis center can sign up for $20. Non-member teams can join the league for $60. Register by 5 p.m. May 29.
On the second Friday of each month, the tennis center will host its Monthly Mixed Mixer at 6 p.m. Pass holders can attend for $5 and non-members for $15.
Registration forms can be found online at plantcitygov.com/parksrec/page/plant-city-tennis-center-activities. For more information call 813-707-7485 or email C. Shane Johnson at sjohnson@plantcitygov.com.