Rodney Page, Times Staff Writer
Friday, June 3, 2011
When the USTA league national championships are played in October in California, Pinellas County will be well represented. The senior women's 4.0 team from Clearwater won the sectional tournament and will travel to Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Oct. 14-16.
Members of that team are Anne Pulley, Debbie Dawson, Sally Marshall, Henriette Skoczen, Nancy Bahls, Leslie Godwin, Deborah McCleery, Marion Murch, Ann Worthington, Sharon Carlile and Sandy Martin.
McMullen's 4.5 men's team will also be in Rancho Mirage after winning the sectional tournament. Players on that team are Ron Massey, Steve Talner, Rick Workman, Peter Bretagne Bonfa, Michael Rothberg, Christopher Skinner, Lance Cohen, Richard Munoz, Dale Alford, Anthony Ruggiero, Marvin Wilhite, Grahame Bell, R. Michael Carroll and Michael Erbe.
There were two other local teams at the sectional tournament representing Pinellas County. McMullen Tennis Center's 4.0 team, captained by Wendall Walker, finished second in its flight but did not advance to the semifinals. The 3.0 Feather Sound team, captained by Roger Rogers, also did not advance to the semifinals.
There are also two super senior teams from McMullen that will play at the national tournament, which is in April 2012. The 8.0 team, made up of players 60 and older, is captained by Rick Whissel. Other players are Darrel Stewart, Joe Persak, Mauro Rodriguez, John Beda, Terry Tetzlaff, Eric Watson, Ron Massey and Walker. The 9.0 team from McMullen will also be there. The 9.0 team is Terry Payton, Tony Ruggiero, Mark Rosenfeld, Rich Bruer, Peter Bonfa, Marc Mazo, Alex Deeb, Terry Addison, Bill Christensen, Massey and Jared Florian.
Four senior teams from Pinellas will certainly make the county well represented at national events in the upcoming months.
More tennis
The USTA has selected Innisbrook Golf Resort and Spa in Palm Harbor as the host of a USTA Men's $10,000 Futures Pro Circuit event, the PressEx Print Open, June 24-July 3. The main draw field will feature 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams, including 2011 NCAA champions Jeff Dadamo and Austin Krajicek from Texas A&M. Players ranked between No. 300 to No. 900 in the world typically compete in Futures level events. A 128-person qualifying tournament on June 24-27 will determine the final eight singles players in the 32-player main draw. The USTA Pro Circuit event will also include a wild-card tournament June 18-20 with the winner earning a position in the main draw. The wild-card tournament is open to all men ages 14 and older. Registration is at acesportsgroup.com. Admission to the tournament is free.
Golf
The County Golf Association's individual tournament was held May 26 at Innisbrook's South Course. The regular division gross winners were Kevin Andress and Brent Shaw, who shot 69s. The regular division net winners were Johnny Halligan and Brian Frame, who shot 65s. The senior gross winner was Mark Wheaton, who shot 67. The senior net winner was Walter Durrett, who shot 59. The ladies net winner was Mary Jane Winstead, who shot 69.
• The West Coast Women's Golf Association recently held a team competition against the Brassies Central Florida Women's Golf Association at Avila Country Club in Tampa. There were 50 players on each team playing a best-ball format. The West Coast Women's Golf Association won the tournament 240-210, its eighth consecutive win in the tournament.
• The Tides Women's Golf Association held a team event May 31. The winning team, with a score of 125, was Nancy Briner, Kathy Davis, Judy McNamee and Marilyn Wentzel.
Basketball
The Lady Florida Prospects 11th-grade team finished second at the AAU state championship in Clearwater on May 20-22. The Prospects lost 64-58 to the St. Augustine Celtics in the championship game. The team is made up of players from Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. They are: Amber Frounfelter, Meghan Weaver (Seminole High), Tori Trador, Kristen Scholl (Indian Rocks Christian High), Charlotte Reneau (Largo High), Micah Kroll, Gracie Dziagwa (Tampa Catholic), Vintoria Hopps (Brooks-DeBartolo), Shay Wilson (Jefferson High), Alexis Wright (Steinbrenner) and Schelby Frounfelter (Seminole Middle).
Baseball
Perhaps it's only downhill from here, but the Shetland Gators of the Pinellas Park Pony League recently completed an undefeated season. The Gators, made up of 4-, 5- and 6-year-old players, were 19-0 in the regular season and won the city tournament at Seminole Junior Warhawk field. Players are Jake Levesque, Nelson Ramos, James Maas, Matthew Deetz, Dillon Doyle, Irianis Garcia, Carmello Hinton, Landon Keplingeeplinger, Ryan McClanahan, Colby Redding, Cristian Rivera and Ben Bartley. The coaches are Chuck Levesque, Chris Bailey, Charlie Guastella and Geovanni Garcia.