East Lake High School

East Lake’s Balazs Orzo signs with Lindenwood

eastlake — Fri, 18 May 2012 23:47:31 +0000

East Lake’s Balazs Orzo signed with Lindenwood University, an NAIA school in Belleville, Ill. Orzo, a 6-foot-5 small forward, was a second-team all-conference selection who helped the Eagles finish 20-7 and advance to the Class 8A... Read more

Cincinnati Bearcats offer East Lake duo of Mason Cole and Artavis Scott

eastlake — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:40:08 +0000

Cincinnati has rolled through Tarpon Springs, extending offers to a pair of East Lake standouts.

Offensive lineman Mason Cole (Class of 2014) was offered by the Bearcats, giving him four BCS offers to go with USF, FSU and Ohio State. The 6-foot-5, 267-pounder also has an offer from South Alabama.

Wide receiver Artavis Scott (Class of 2014) was also offered by Cincinnati. The 5-11, 160-pound playmaker also has offers from USF, FSU, Ohio State and South Alabama. Last year he led Tampa Bay with 54 catches for 1,158 yards and 12 touchdowns, and in two seasons at East Lake has 71 catches, 1,498 yards and 17 scores.

Follow me at @JohnnyHomeTeam, or reach me by email at cotey@tampabay.com

PCAC baseball North Team Announced

eastlake — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:40:07 +0000

And here is the PCAC North Team:

First Team

Pitchers: Eric Hanhold (East Lake), Michael Dunnigan (Tarpon Springs), Colyn O’Connell (Dunedin).

Infielders: Scott Withrow (Seminole), Alex McGathey (Seminole), Kellen Brown (Dunedin), Hunter Bonner (Tarpon Springs), Grant Hodges (East Lake).

Outfielders: Cole Miklavcic (Tarpon Springs), Brett Phillips (Seminole), Derrek Webb (Largo), Brett Gilman (Clearwater).

Catcher: Michael Mann (Seminole).

Designated hitter: Tommy Grill (Tarpon Springs).

Utility: Jordan Doyle (Seminole).

Second team

Pitchers: Anthony Bariso (Tarpon Springs), Caleb Koulianos (Tarpon Springs), Tyler Ramsey (East Lake).

Infielders: Adam Atkinson (Seminole), Brenden Overton (Tarpon Springs), Steven Petryliak (Largo), Jacob Jarreau (Palm Harbor University), Mac LaBouef (Dunedin).

Outfielders: Justin DiSanto (East Lake), Troy Strominger (East Lake), Aaron Chesson (Dunedin), B.J. Anderson (Dunedin).

Catcher: Garrett Franklin (East Lake).

Designated hitter: Jabe Molinaro (Clearwater).

Utility: Alex Hart (Dunedin).

Honorable Mention: Clearwater: Dylan Chewcaskie, Colin Lonsberry, Jake Moroff, Dillon Stone; Countryside: Vinny Ballantoni, Eric Russell; Dunedin: Ben …

PCAC tennis teams announced

eastlake — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:40:05 +0000

Here are the Pinellas County Athletic Conference boys and girls tennis teams. The singles and doubles teams are for public school players and were voted on by county coaches.

Boys singles

First team

1. Ganesh Rajaram, East Lake; 2. Dylan Sleszynski, St. Petersburg; 3. Brian Bell, Palm Harbor U; 4. Kyle Bulleit, St. Petersburg; 5. Matt Kopelman, St. Petersburg.

Second team

1. Jordan Monosky, Countryside; 2. Greg Perenich, Palm Harbor U; 3. Danny Zakria, St. Petersburg; 4. Miki Mijovtic, Northeast; 5. Ryan Hall, East Lake.

Boys doubles

First team

1. Robert Dvorak, Dylan Sleszynski, St. Petersburg; 2. Danny Zakria, Gallaur, St. Petersburg.

Second team

1. Nathan Lord, Brian Bell, Palm Harbor U; 2. Greg Perenich, Mohammed Nuh, Palm Harbor U

Girls singles

First team

1. Alex Kitchen, Countryside; 2. Samantha Azadian, Palm Harbor U; 3. Shannon Cruz, Palm Harbor U; 4. Hannah Rahman, Palm Harbor U; 5. Stefanie Miller, Palm …

Cotey: Spring football primer

eastlake — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:14:14 +0000

Are you ready for some …wait, wait.

Let me try again.

Spring is in the …no, no no.

Scratch all that. Let’s go with: Football!

Nice, simple and to the exclamation point.

High school practice starts Tuesday and we’ve got big arms, like the one East Lake quarterback Pete DiNovo uses to sling the ball.

We’ve got sure hands, like those Lakewood’s Rodney Adams uses to catch it.

We’ve got fancy feet, like those St. Petersburg Catholic’s Ryan Green uses to break ankles (and necks if you’re watching him).

We’ve got, well, a little bit of all of that in Armwood’s diverse and dominant Alvin Bailey.

And let’s not forget da noise and da funk, brought each play by the guy in the headband, Armwood’s ball Hawk Leon McQuay III.

You’ll know spring practice has started by the …

Region softball roundup: PHU stunned by late-game rally

eastlake — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 05:41:25 +0000

PLANT CITY — Chuck Poetter stood near the first-base box, hands on hips, staring toward his dugout, looking stunned and bewildered as his players filed out.

Then, as the last players left the dugout, Poetter followed them off the field.

For the last time.

After three state titles and nearly 400 victories, Poetter’s coaching career ended in Friday’s 6-5 loss to Durant.

The Hurricanes (26-3) ran into a team that refuses to lose.

The Cougars (21-4) fell behind 11-0 and came back to win a district title, rallied from 5-0 down to beat East Lake in the region quarterfinals on a walkoff home run then did the same thing to PHU on Friday night, tying the game with a homer in the seventh and hitting another in the eighth to win it.

A 3-0 first-inning lead, on an RBI single from Rachel Taylor and a two-run single by Chrissy …

Northside’s Jeffrey Golden headed to Milsaps

eastlake — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:35:53 +0000

Northside Christian’s Jeffrey Golden has signed to play basketball at Milsaps College in Mississippi.

Golden decided to go to Milsaps in part to join his best friend, East Lake’s Jeremy Mogged, who signed last month.

This past season, Golden averaged 18.5 ppg and was second on the team in rebounding with 6.5 per game. He has finished in the top five in 3-pointers made in Pinellas County each of the past four seasons. Golden also has been a captain on varsity since he was a sophomore year.

The two-sport athlete has won district and region titles in the triple jump and is seeded in the top for Friday’s state meet.

District baseball roundup: No-hitter ends PHU’s season

eastlake — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:11:34 +0000

PALM HARBOR — Sarasota Riverview’s Sean Labsan brought Palm Harbor University’s season to an abrupt end Tuesday. Not only did Labsan hit the first grand slam of his life, he threw a no-hitter to single-handedly help the Rams to a 10-0 win in the Class 8A, District 8 semifinal.

Riverview (10-14) will play East Lake for the district championship at 6 p.m. Thursday at Riverview. The Eagles defeated North Port 8-3.

“It was a pretty good day,” said Labsan, who lost the first time he faced PHU this season. “I’ve never hit a grand slam before. And I was just trying to keep throwing strikes. There were some times where I had to settle down because I was overthrowing.”

While Labsan was unhittable, he and his teammates were busy getting hits at the plate. The Rams scored two runs in the first inning when Labsan doubled home …

Region softball roundup: Durant keeps coming back

eastlake — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:11:31 +0000

PLANT CITY — Twice in the past two games, logic has all but administered the last rites to Durant’s softball team. Thing is, the alleged burials have been supplanted by a birth of sorts.

From the womb of amazement, the Cardiac Cougars have been spawned.

For the second time in six nights, the Cougars (20-4) rallied wildly from a gaping deficit, only this time their season was at stake. Junior ace Paige Davis’ walkoff three-run home run Tuesday lifted the host to a 9-7 win against East Lake in the Class 8A region quarterfinals.

“That’s the way we planned it,” quipped coach Matt Carter, whose team rallied from an 11-0 deficit Thursday for a 15-13 win against Alonso in the District 8 final.

“How many times can you see a team this far into the tournament get down that far … and stay together enough to come out and conquer …

Recruiting: The waiting should end soon for these prospects

eastlake — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:59:41 +0000

By John C. Cotey, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, April 21, 2012

With spring football right around the corner, another strong class of recruits is likely to bring in a wave of interested colleges. • If you’re Wharton’s Vernon Hargreaves, St. Petersburg Catholic’s Ryan Green or Jesuit’s Travis Johnson, what’s new? This trio, along with a few others, already has offers from many of the big schools. • But there are players out there with no offers. That won’t last for some of them. • Here’s just a few — we expect dozens more — of the players who don’t yet have offers but we believe soon will:

1. Pete DiNovo, QB, East Lake: The Eagles signal caller competed in the Elite 11 Quarterback Camp on Saturday, a day after stopping at Alabama and Auburn to try to wow coaches. East Lake will be a popular stop this …