Florida Sports Wire

By JEFF MOELLER, Jacksonville Sports News For Matt Fitzpatrick, it was another successful trip to his home away from home. Over the years, the 31-year-old Sheffield, England native and his family vacationed on Hilton Head Island, and they also attended the annual PGA event there that has dated back to 1966.  When he won the RBC Heritage in 2023 , Fitzpatrick became an instant fan favorite, as he defeated Jordan Spieth in a playoff. Fitzpatrick won on the third playoff hole after hitting his approach shot to within one foot to set up the winning birdie. Late Sunday afternoon, the Hilton Head Island magic was back again. As Yogi Berra once aptly put it, “It was deja vu all over again.”  It was another vintage day on Hilton Head, where residents there and from nearby communities are totally enraptured with the annual tournament. It arguably is the social event of the year with another batch of overflow crowds. Fitzpatrick beat Scottie Scheffler - another Island favorite - in a pl...

  By Mick Moninghoff ORLANDO – Pirates Quarterback Paxton DeLaurent threw five touchdown passes with four of them going to wideout Thomas Owens as Orlando defeated the Tulsa Oilers in overtime 61-55 at the Kia Center. The win was also the first for New Head Coach Rod Windsor in his first game at the helm. The Pirates remain undefeated at 3-0 while the Oilers (1-1) suffered their first loss of the season. Orlando trailed 35-33 at the half and did not take the lead until there were 27 seconds remaining in the game.  Trailing 52-48, DeLaurent led the Pirates on a five-play, 45-yard drive. On first and goal from the seven, he ran a quarterback counter into the end zone to give the home team a 55-48 lead as Axel Perez added the extra point. Kicker Bailey Hale of the Oilers booted a 48-yard field goal as time expired to send the game into overtime. Tulsa had the best possession in the extra session. A holding penalty on first down and a tackle for a loss by the Pirates Jacques Bris...

Special to Florida Sports Wire  JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp blanked the Charlotte Knights 3-0 behind Dax Fulton’s six shutout innings Tuesday afternoon at VyStar Ballpark in front of 5,438 fans.  The Jumbo Shrimp (8-8) picked up six hits in the ballgame and scored all three runs against Charlotte (7-9) off two swings in the sixth inning.  After two quick outs to begin the frame, Joe Mack provided a two-out single and Kemp Alderman (2) socked a two-run home run to the opposite field off Charlotte right-hander Chase Plywell (L, 0-1). One batter later, Nathan Martorella (2) launched his second home run of the season to right field to push the score to 3-0.  Jacksonville relievers Zack Brzykcy, Josh White and Josh Ekness (SV, 1) combined to shut down the Knights across the final three frames.  The series continues Wednesday with Jacksonville southpaw Patrick Monteverde (0-1, 5.79) starting on the mound opposite Charlotte right-hander Duncan Davitt ...

JACKSONVILLE – Sporting Club Jacksonville’s women’s team has officially clinched a spot in the 2026 Gainbridge Super League Playoffs, becoming the first expansion team in league history to secure a postseason berth in its inaugural season. Sporting JAX’s playoff position was confirmed following a decisive stretch of results across the league. The club earned a key victory over Brooklyn this past Saturday, while Dallas Trinity defeated Spokane (3-1) and Carolina Ascent secured a win over Tampa. With DC Power falling to FTL United in Monday night’s matchup, Sporting JAX officially locked in its place in the postseason. The milestone caps a dominant debut campaign for the First Coast’s first professional women’s soccer team. Sporting JAX has sat atop the Gainbridge Super League table continuously since Dec. 20, establishing itself as one of the league’s most consistent and formidable sides. With a playoff berth secured, Sporting JAX now turns its focus toward seeding and a championship pu...

ORLANDO – TEG Sport and The Football Association today announced that Inter&Co Stadium will host the England men's national team for an international friendly against Costa Rica on Wednesday, June 10 (4 p.m. ET), as part of the Three Lions’ preparations for the FIFA World Cup 2026™. The match will mark a rare appearance for England on U.S. soil and provides fans an opportunity to see one of international football’s most storied national teams compete in Central Florida ahead of the world’s biggest sporting event. Fans can register to receive information about ticket availability here. “We are thrilled to bring the England men’s national team to Orlando as part of their World Cup preparations," said Jarrod Dillon, President of Business Operations for Orlando City SC, Orlando Pride and Inter&Co Stadium. “Inter&Co Stadium offers an electric atmosphere and world‑class facilities, making it the ideal stage for an international matchup of this caliber. This fixture refl...

  JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp left-hander Braxton Garrett has been named the International League Pitcher of the Week for the week of April 7-13, Minor League Baseball announced Monday. Garrett is the first Jumbo Shrimp pitcher to earn a weekly honor in during the 2026 campaign. In his third start of the season, Garrett fired 6.0 no-hit innings with six strikeouts against just one walk. He needed only 66 pitches against the Norfolk Tides Sunday afternoon. Thus far in 2026, the southpaw has totaled 15.1 innings while allowing just one run (one earned run) on four hits with five walks against 17 strikeouts. He’s also held opponents to a mere .082 batting average against. Garrett’s 15.1 innings ranks seventh in the International and his 17 strikeouts are tied for 14th. A native of Foley, Alabama, the 28-year-old pitcher has spent his entire career in the Marlins organization. A first-round pick in the 2016 MLB draft, Garrett first pitched in Jacksonville in 2019 when the...

NEW YORK AND TORONTO – The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) will reach a new attendance milestone this week by surpassing 1 million fans in a single regular season for the first time in the league’s three-year history.  The milestone will come just days after Saturday’s sold-out crowd of 17,850 for the league’s first-ever game at Boston’s TD Garden and the completion of the 16-game PWHL Takeover Tour™ this past week in Edmonton. Only 15 games remain in the 2025-26 regular season with five teams still in contention for the fourth and final berth in the PWHL Walter Cup Playoffs. 1 MILLION FANS WITHIN REACH PWHL attendance through 105 games of the 2025-26 regular season stands at 976,219, just 23,781 away from reaching the 1 million milestone. This season’s average attendance is 9,297 fans per game, nearly a 29% increase over the average attendance across all 102 games played in 2024-25, including playoffs. The crowd of 17,850 at TD Garden set a new attendance record for a B...