Venice Gondolier Sun




WEDNESDAY SP RTS
JUNE 7, 2006


 CONTACT US
 CLAUDE LEWIS
 SPORTS EDITOR
 (941) 207-1107
lewis@venicegondolier.com
www.venicegondolier.com


Lightners magic saves Babes


~


 CLAUDE LEWIS
 SPORTS EDITOR


 LaNinfa finishes
 with a flourish

 Brian LaNinfa certainly
 finished up his junior season
 with a bang.
 While his Mississippi State
 University baseball team saw
 its season end with an 8-6
 loss to host Clemson late
 Sunday night, LaNinfa had a
 great regional tournament.
 The Venice High graduate
 was 7-for-16 over four games.
 Four of his hits went for extra
 bases, as the left-handed bat-
 ter had two doubles and two
 home runs. His nine RBIs.
 left him one shy of the
 Bulldog record in a regional
 tournament.
 For his efforts, LaNinfa
 was selected to the All-
 Tournament Team.
 MSU finishes the season
 with a record of 37-23. The
 Bulldogs were 2-2 in the
 Clemson Regional. They
 opened with a loss to Elon,
 then defeated North Caro-
 lina-Ashville and Elon before
 falling to Clemson.
 Clemson is ranked third in
 the latest Collegiate Baseball
 Tournament.
 In a 5-4 win over Ashville
 Saturday, LaNinfa drove in
 all five Bulldog runs. Includ-
 ed was a 45Q(foot, three-rn-.i;
Shomer. ..... :
 On the season, LaNinfa
 finished hitting at a .309 clip.
 He led the Bulldogs in home
 runs with 11 and RBIs with 50.

 Radford's Martin Sayer
 downed Stetson's Marcus
 Echtler in the first round of
 64 at the 2006 NCAA Men's
 Tennis Singles Champion-
 ship at Stanford University's
 Taube Tennis Center.
 Echtler, who won a state
 championship .playing for
 Venice High, fought to stay
 alive early on, only to drop
 the first set 7-6 (10-8). Sayer
 then took the second set 6-3 to
 claim the first-round victory.
 "Marcus played very well,"
 Stetson coach Pierre Pilote
 said. "When the match is
 decided by only one break of
 serve and one mini-break in
 a tie breaker, you know it is a
 very close match. Marcus
 had an opportunity to win
 the first set with a set point
 at 6-5 in the first set tie-
 breaker with Sayer serving a
 second serve but got jam-
 med attempting to come in
 on the serve. I am very
 proud of his poise under
 such a grand stage. I think
 that he learned a lot from
 this experience and will be
 able to apply it to reach even
 higher achievements in the
 future."
 Sayer improved to 23-3 in
 singles while Echtler wrapped
 up his sophomore season
 with a record of 15-6.


BY CLAUDE LEWIS
SPORTS EDITOR

 It took a little late magic
from Colton Lightner to keep
Babe's Hardware still unbeat-
en in Sarasota County Cup
play.
 Trailing by a run, Babe's was
down to its last out in Tues-
day night's winners' bracket
game against the Sarasota
Twins at Twin Lakes Park.
 Lightner's two-run single
to right field powered Babe's


to a 5-4 victory over Mark
Guthrie's shocked Twins.
 The Twins took a 4-3 lead
into the bottom of the sixth.
Juliana Cavallaro reached on
a fielder's choice and brother
Joe Cavallaro had a two-out
double to put runners on
second and third.
 Lightner reached out and
sent a liner that the right
fielder couldn't come up with.
 Just an inning earlier, the
Twins right fielder made a
diving grab of a screamer off


the bat of Jared Zech, saving
a couple of runs.
 Michael lorio started for
Babe's and went 4 1/3 innings.
Babe's manager Frank Iorio
went to Matt Strickland, who
got the win.
 Babe's is the lone Venice
Little League team still in the
winners' bracket. There are
four VLL teams total still alive
in the double elimination
County Cup tourney.
 Babe's, now 3-0 in the
tourney, will play the Sarasota


Nationals at 7:30 p.m. Wed-
nesday.
 Kiwanis went into Tues-
day's action with a tourney
record of 2-0, but the locals
fell 4-3 to the Nationals.
Michael Knott pitched well
in defeat. Kiwanis will play a
losers' bracket game at 5:30
p.m. Wednesday.
 The Twins go to the los-
ers' bracket, where they will
face Sertoma at 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday.
 Sertoma stayed alive with


 .4.






 ll ~') -J ,' ,1 i .1 1 ,1 L l 1






 SUN PHOTOS BY JEFF TAVARES, jtavares@venicegondoliercom
Sertoma's Rex Ingerick is out at first. Venice/Nokomis Rotary's first baseman is Nick Longi and pitcher is Mike
Flend, fr right. 7


a 5-1 victory
over the Herald
Tribune, an
Englewood
team that
came. into the
tournament
unbeaten. Rex
Ingeric k
pitched well
and he also
had a home
run. On Mon-
day night,
Sertoma elimi-
nated Venice
Nok omis
Rotary, 9-7.
 The Lawyers
continued to
win in the
losers' bracket.
They defeated
the Marlins
i9-1 Tuesday
as Brett Swikle
threw a two-
hitter. :He.
struck out .12.
At the plate,
Swikle also
had a home
run. Charlie


Jerla had three hits and
Taylor Callaghan had two
hits.
 On Monday night, the
Lawyers belted Izzo's of
Englewood, 15-1. Jack Zar-
ling pitched a two-hitter.
Michael Johnson had a
triple and two singles. Brett
Swikle had a home run and
double good for four RBIs.
Jon Hurst had a triple and
single.
 A.G. Edwards was elimi-
nated by the Sarasota Car-
dinals Tuesday night, 17-14.
 A.G. Edwards stayed alive
Monday with an 8-1 victory
over the North Port Devil
Rays. Brett Smith, a 10-year-
old right-hander, struck out
12 Devil Rays and allowed
just four hits in six innings.
to pick up the win.
 "The important part is he
 can hit the inside and out-
 side corners with his fastball,"
 said Edwards coach Randy
 Smith, Brett's father. '"At his
 age, not many kids have that
 kind of control."
 The biggest difference
 was a two-run home run
 by Edwards first baseman
 Christian Santiago in the top
 of the first inning. The next
 run wasn't scored until .the
 third, when Edwards went
 ahead 3-0 on an unearned
 run.
 In other losers' bracket
 action Monday,. the Dentists
 were -usted by the Sarasota
 Devil Rays, 9-8; the Sarasota
 Marlins eliminated Robert's
 Nationwide, 5-4; a.nd, the
 Sarasota Cardinals bounced
 the Doctors,. 7" .w.i


Venice s Young


Gunz weigh 175-


pound silver king


BY CLAUDE LEWIS
SPORTS EDITOR


 Catching a big tarpon is
really something. Catching a
big tarpon in a tournament
is something else.
 Four Venice teenagers -
Team Young Gunz had the
fishing experience of their
lives last Sunday in the Pro-
fessional Tarpon Tournament
Series in Boca Grande Pass, as
their 175-pound silver king
was the largest in the fourth
of the five segment series.
 The series spans five con-
secutive Sundays from May
into June. Points are kept for
releases and weigh-ins. The
top 25 teams after the five
Weeks gets to fish one more
Sunday in the $40,000 Jim
Beam Cup.
 Team Young Gunz the
youngest team in the tourna-
ment consists of Captain
Matt Anderson, Lane Kra-
ayenbrink, John Noland and
Eric White. Kraayenbrink just


graduated from Venice High
and is an employee at Boat-
er's World. The other three
will be seniors at VHS this
coming school year.
 For their efforts, the Young
Gunz won a Century 1902 Bay
Boat powered by a Yamaha
four-stroke F115 motor and a
Continental aluminum trailer.
 It was 12:15 p.m. Sunday
when Kraayenbrink got the
big pull. He was dancing a
Berkeley powerbait shad jig
just off the bottom. Anderson
maneuvered his 22-foot Path-
finder boat through the in-
tense traffic as Kraayenbrink
battled the fish. Some 45
minutes later, they had the
fish alongside the boat.
 "It's luck getting the bite,
but it's skill getting it to the
boat," Anderson said. "It's a
team effort."
 Fishhandlers Noland and
White got the leader on the
fish and worked it toward the
scales.
 "We all underestimated


 PHOTO PROVIDED
Lane Kraayenbrink, left, and Eric White show off the 175-pound tarpon they caught in Boca
Grande Pass Sunday in the Professional Tarpon Tournament Series. Captain Matt Anderson and
John Nolan are the other half of Team Young Gunz.


what it might weight," said
Anderson, who works at West
Marine along with Noland.
"We thought it might be 120-
130. Another team had just
weighed in a 164-pound tar-
pon when we were bringing
ours in. We didn't think ours
was as big as theirs."
 Surprise, surprise.
 "It's the biggest one weigh-
ed in the whole series this


year," Kraayenbrink said.
"The fish stayed down. It was
hooked on the side of the
mouth."
 Keeping the fish on
through a crowded pass was
one headache after another.
The crew was lucky there
were no sharks. Bulls and
hammerheads are notorious
for chomping on hooked
tarpon.


 The cost to enter each
segment of the series is
$800. Young Gunz is lucky to
have Humphrey Interior De-
signers and Millstone Con-
struction sponsor entry fees.
 The cost to enter the Jim
Beam Cup on June 18 is
$1,500.
 Team Young Gunz is hop-
ing to get lucky at least one
more time.


Basic sailing for children
 Venice Youth Boating is
offering basic sailing classes
for children ages 9 (by Sept.
1) through 14. Sessions will
be 9 a.m.- noon and 1-4 p.m.
 Classes will take place at
the Pram Shed on the
grounds of Venice Yacht Club
and Roberts Bay. Cost is $200
per two-week session.
 Registration will be accept-
ed by mail or e-mail, on a first
come, first serve basis.
 ,To receive information
and registration forms, go to
the Web site at venice-
youthboating.us or send
parent name, address,
phone number, each child's
name and birthday and a


self-addressed stamped
envelope to Venice Youth
Boating Association, 1330
Tarpon Center Drive, Venice,
34285..
 For more information, call
488-4341.
Pop Wamer
Vikings signups
 Pop Warner Venice Vikings
football and cheerleading
will hold registration 9 a.m.-
noon Saturday, June 10, at
Letson Stadium, Wellfield.
Kids ages 5-15 are welcome
to sign up. A parent or
guardian must, be present.
Please bring a copy of birth
certificate and final report
card. For more information,


call 493-2232.
YMCA's Sharks hold
summer tryouts
' The South County Family
YMCA's training site for the
Sarasota Sharks will be hav-
ing tryouts for the summer
season every Wednesday
5:30-6 p.m. as well as Fridays
9-9:30 a.m.
 The weekly tryouts for
ages 6-19 years will be held at
the Venice YMCA located at
701 Center Road, across
from Garden Elementary
School. For more informa-
tion, contact Dennis Johnson
or Erin Romer at 492-9622,
Ext. 129 or e-mail sharks@
veniceymca.org.


 SUMMER SPORTS

 SPOTLIGHT
VHS alumnus Brenda Clark does a great job coaching girls
cross country and girls track and field at her alma mater. She is
looking forward to another strong cross country team this
summer. Daughter Nicole is the centerfielder for the Lady
Indian varsity softball.


Birenda ClarK


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