Florida Sports Wire

  JACKSONVILLE – Thanks to a 12-batter third inning, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp crushed the Gwinnett Stripers 9-1 Thursday night at VyStar Ballpark. Jacksonville (18-6) broke the scoreless tie in the third. Jack Winkler reached on an error and Harrison Spohn walked to begin the frame.  Two batters later, Maximo Acosta walked to load the bases. With three runners on, Troy Johnston cracked a double, plating the first two runs of the night. With runners at second and third, Deyvision De Los Santos singled, bringing in another run and advancing Johnston to third.  Following a Gwinnett (10-13) pitching change, Heriberto Hernandez rolled an RBI groundout, scoring another run for the Jumbo Shrimp. Following the groundout, Albert Almora and Brian Navarreto laced back-to-back RBI doubles, extending the Shrimp lead to six. In his second plate appearance of the inning,  Winkler ripped an RBI single, scoring Navarreto. He stole second and Spohn walked to put two runners on. ...

GREEN BAY, Wis.— The Colorado Buffaloes' Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, become the highest drafted cornerback and second-highest drafted wide receiver in NFL history.  Matching the highest draft pick in CU history alongside Bo Matthews (No. 2 overall to the San Diego Chargers in 1974), Hunter is just the fourth top 5 pick in CU history also joining Byron White (No.4 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1938) and Michael Westbrook (No. 4 to the Washington Redskins in 1995).  Hunter became the most decorated player in college football history last year being named the consensus national player of the year by winning the Heisman Trophy, Walter Camp Award and both the AP and Sporting News Player of the Year honors.  He was also repeated as the Paul Hornung Award (most versatile player) while winning the Bednarik Award and Lott IMPACT Trophy as national defensive player of the year and th...

  GREEN BAY, Wisc. -- University of Miami quarterback Cam Ward was selected with the first overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans Thursday night. Ward became the third Hurricane to ever be selected No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft and the first since 1991, when defensive tackle Russell Maryland was taken by the Dallas Cowboys with the draft’s top pick. Quarterback Vinny Testaverde was also selected No. 1 overall in 1987 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The first Hurricane to be selected in the first round since defensive ends Greg Rousseau and Jaelan Phillips in 2021, Ward won the Manning Award and the Davey O’Brien Award honoring the nation’s top quarterback after a prolific 2024 season with the Hurricanes. In addition to leading Miami to a 10-win season, Ward was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy and the winner of the ACC Player of the Year honor, a first for a Hurricane student-athlete. The 66th first-round pick in Miami school history, Ward completed 305-of-454 pa...

  JACKSONVILLE – A quality start from Valente Bellozo and a late RBI knock from Deyvison De Los Santos secured a 3-2 win for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp against the Gwinnett Stripers, Wednesday night at VyStar Ballpark. Locked in a 2-2 tie in the seventh, Maximo Acosta and Joe Mack worked back-to-back two out walks for Jacksonville (17-6). With runners at first and second, De Los Santos cracked an RBI single, giving the Jumbo Shrimp a 3-2 lead against Gwinnett (10-12).  The Jumbo Shrimp broke the scoreless tie in the first. With one out, Acosta walked, and Mack smoked a double. With two runners on, De Los Santos scored Acosta on an RBI groundout, giving the Jumbo Shrimp a 1-0 lead. Trailing 1-0, Gwinnett responded in the top of the third. Eddy Alvarez worked a one-out walk. With a runner at first, a Carlos Rodríguez single, coupled with a throwing error allowed Alvarez to score and Rodríguez advanced to second.  In the ensuing at-bat, Charles Leblanc reached on bunt sin...

  JACKSONVILLE – Former Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp left-handed pitcher Patrick Monteverde made his major league debut Saturday for the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Monteverde came out of the bullpen for the Marlins, striking out four in 3.2 innings of work in the Marlins’ 11-10 defeat to the Philadelphia Phillies. A native of Pittsburgh, Monteverde began his collegiate career in 2017 at Division III Virginia Wesleyan. He transferred to Division II Seton Hill for three seasons before transferring to Texas Tech for the 2021 season, when he pitched to a 7-4 record and 3.75 ERA with 101 strikeouts in 86.1 innings. Miami selected Monteverde in the eighth round of the 2021 draft. The southpaw reached Triple-A Jacksonville for the first time in 2023. He pitched in 19 games, including 15 starts, with the Jumbo Shrimp between 2023-25, posting a 6-5 record and 71 strikeouts against 38 walks in 88.0 innings. Monteverde is the second former Jumbo Shrimp to debut in the m...

 By Jeff Moeller, Florida SportDay HILTON HEAD - Si-Woo Kim is looking for consistency. The 29-year-old South Korean golfer topped the leaderboard at a 15-under 198 after three rounds of the RBC Heritage at Harbor Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island Saturday. Kim has a tight one-shot lead over Justin Thomas (-14) and Andrew Novak (-14). Defending champion Scottie Scheffler is four strokes off the pace at -11 and tied for seventh. Through the first two rounds, Thomas led the field with a -12, but he ended Saturday with a two-under 69. Thomas was assessed a one-shot penalty from a waste area on the par-5 second hole. He notified a rules official that his ball moved a fraction while he was removing loose ground near it.   Kim sank five birdies and had one bogey -on his final hole - on a windy, sunny afternoon, finishing with a five-under 66.   He captured the Players Championship in 2017, becoming the youngest player at 21 to win the event. However, Kim has strug...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Despite clubbing three home runs, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp couldn’t outlast the Memphis Redibrds in a 6-5 walk off loss Saturday afternoon at AutoZone Park. Tied at five, Memphis (10-8) got a one-out double from Bryan Torres. Two batters later, Matt Koperniak doubled off (14-6) reliever Matt Pushard (L, 0-1) scoring Torres sealing the Redbirds’ Walk off win The Redbirds opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. Masyn Winn (2) crushed a solo homer off Jumbo Shrimp starter Adam Mazur. Two innings later, Winn clobbered his second big fly of the game increasing the Memphis lead to 2-0. The Jumbo Shrimp responded immediately in the top of the fourth. Troy Johnston led off the inning with a base knock and stole second. Two batters later, Heriberto Hernandez (4) blasted a two-run homer, evening the game at two. Jacksonville took their first lead of the game in the top of the fifth. Jakob Marsee (2) started the inning with a solo shot putting the Jumbo Shrimp ahead 3...

Andrew Fyten followed Alex Kile’s example with an overtime winner of his own to give the Florida Everblades a 2-1 overtime win over the Jacksonville Icemen in Game Two of the South Division Semifinals in front of 6,084 fans.  The South Carolina Stingrays earned a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory against the Orlando Solar Bears in front of 5,744 fans to take a 2-0 series lead Florida now leads the best-of-seven series 2-0 with the series shifting to Jacksonville next week. The first period saw Florida generate more chances, but both teams came up scoreless in the opening frame. Craig Needham and Justin McRae fought each other for both to pick up their first playoff fighting major in their careers. In the second, Carson Gicewicz scored a five-hole goal eight seconds in to a power play to open the scoring. Oliver Chau and Cole Moberg gabbed helpers on the opening goal. In the third, Derek Lodermeier tied the game with a shorthanded goal after the Blades turned it over in their own zone....

 MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Home runs from Maximo Acosta and Agustín Ramírez along with strong pitching performances aided the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp’s 4-1 win over the Memphis Redbirds Thursday night at AutoZone Park. After trading scoreless frames, Jacksonville (13-5) took the lead in the top of the third. With one out, Acosta (2) crushed a solo homer off Memphis (9-7) starter Alex Cornwell (L, 1-1). Ramirez followed with a double and stole third. Deyvison De Los Santos knocked him in with a base hit increasing the Jumbo Shrimp lead to two. Troy Johnston and Ronny Simon knocked consecutive singles to bring home De Los Santos pushing the advantage to 3-0. Memphis plated their lone run in the sixth. Michael Helman doubled and advanced to third two batters later. During Ryan Vilade’s at-bat, a wild pitch scored Helman from third cutting the deficit to 3-1. The Jumbo Shrimp’s exclamation point came in the top of the ninth. Ramirez (3) crushed a solo homer putting Jacksonville ahead 4-1. Val...

 ORLANDO – Orlando City SC is set to take on the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the Round of 32 of the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the 110th edition of the cup competition.  The match, reigniting the I-4 Derby, will take place on Wednesday, May 7 at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida, with all Round of 32 matches scheduled to take place from May 6-7. City’s match against the Rowdies is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on Paramount+.  Additionally, hosting priorities for the Round of 16 were determined as a part of Thursday morning’s draw live on CBS Sports Golazo Network’s Morning Footy. The Lions hold hosting priorities in the Round of 16 and, should they advance past Tampa, would host the winner of the matchup between Nashville SC and Chattanooga Red Wolves SC.   The Rowdies currently rank 10th in USL Championship through the first five matches of the 2025 campaign, posting a 1-4-0 record for three points. Tampa Bay comes into the Rou...

ORLANDO - The Florida Sports Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the election of new officers to its esteemed Board of Directors, bringing a wealth of expertise and dedication to the organization. The newly elected officers are as follows: 1. Keyna Cory - President: Keyna Cory is President of Public Affairs Consultants. Keyna has been involved with sports her entire life. As a Junior Bowler, she was the Junior Orange Bowl Champion in 1972 and was a member of the University of Florida Bowling Team. Football has always been her passion, and she was the first woman to be chair of the Carquest Bowl in 1995. Over the years, she has worked with the late Jim Brown and his Amer-I-Can program and currently works with the bowl games in Florida on marketing opportunities. 2. John Reger - Secretary: John has an extensive background in all areas of the golf industry. As a 42-year member of the PGA of America, John has fulfilled a variety of roles including golf professional, tournament announcer, ...

 SHREWSBURY, N.J. – South Carolina Stingrays’ defenseman Romain Rodzinski is the AMI Graphics ECHL Plus Performer of the Month for March after leading the league with a plus-minus rating of +24 during the month. Rodzinski posted an even or better rating in 13 of his 14 games in March. He was a +4 on March 3 at Orlando and March 14 at Atlanta, a +3 on March 23 against Jacksonville and a +2 in five games. A native of Blainville, Quebec, Rodzinski is a +26 overall on the season while posting 22 points (8g-14a) in 42 games with South Carolina and Idaho. Rodzinski has totaled 35 points (11g-24a) in 82 career ECHL games with the Stingrays and Steelheads. Prior to turning pro, Rodzinski tallied four assists in five games at Concordia University and 41 points (8g-33a) in 178 in with Quebec, Cape Breton and Chicoutimi of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. In recognition of his accomplishment, AMI Graphics will present Romain Rodzinski with a personalized Plus Performer of the Month ...

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning clinched a berth in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs today, as a result of the New York Rangers’ 4-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils.  The Bolts will play postseason hockey for a franchise record eighth-consecutive season and the 17th time in club history. Following tonight’s contest at Buffalo, the Lightning will have six regular season games remaining, four at home and two on the road. Tampa Bay’s 2025 postseason is presented by AdventHealth. Dating back to the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, no other team has played in more postseason games than the Lightning, whose 146 are 48 more than the second-place team, the Dallas Stars, who have appeared in 98. Additionally, no team has won more playoff games during that time, with the Bolts registering 87 victories compared to the Vegas Golden Knights, who rank second, with 57. Entering play on April 5, the Lightning sit in second place in the Atlantic Division, just three points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs, ...

  JACKSONVILLE --  The Jacksonville Sharks return to the Shark Tank this Sunday, April 6th, for the 2025 home opener as they take on the Vegas Knight Hawks at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Both teams enter the matchup with a 1-0 record and are eager to keep their undefeated streaks alive. Jacksonville dominated the Massachusetts Pirates in week one with a 46-25 victory, maintaining control throughout the entire game. Wide receivers  Ka'ron Ashley ,  Jaedon Stoshak , and  Edward Vander  each had two touchdowns. Former Pirate Jimmie Robinson also had a touchdown. The Sharks defense played lights out forcing four turnovers. Rookie defensive backs  Malik Jones  and  John Huggins  both had interceptions in their IFL debuts. Meanwhile, Vegas secured a 48-41 comeback win over San Diego, with Lorenzo Hernandez's interception in the final 45 seconds sealing the game for the Knight Hawks. Quarterback Ja'rome Johnson threw for five touchdowns. An...

 JACKSONVILLE – Strong relief pitching was not enough for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in their 7-1 loss t the Worcester Red Sox, Friday night from VyStar Ballpark, in front of 6,101 fans. Worcester (3-3) wasted no time scoring in game four. Roman Anthony led off the first inning with a single. Following a popout, Marcelo Mayer walked and Vaughn Grissom singled.  With the bases juiced, Blake Sabol cracked a two-run double which gave the Woo Sox an early lead. With runners at second and third, Worcester plated a run on balk which made it 3-0 over Jacksonville (4-3). The Woo Sox bats stayed hot in the third. Nick Sogard worked a leadoff walk and stole second. With a runner in scoring position, Mayer ripped an RBI single, increasing the lead to 4-0. Grissom followed with a single putting runners at first and second. Following a passed ball, Abraham Toro hit a sac fly and that scored Mayer to put Worcester ahead 5-0. With a runner at third, Nate Eaton smacked an RBI which gave t...

 NEW YORK AND TORONTO – A closer look at highlights on and off the ice from around the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) with just 11 games remaining in the schedule and two before the international break. PWHL PLAYOFF PICTURE Montréal (11-6-3-6, 48 points) became the first team to officially punch their ticket to the PWHL Playoffs and remain atop the standings with four games left on their schedule. The Victoire can secure one of the top two seeds by earning at least one more point than third-place Boston (8-6-4-8, 40 points) before the break. Toronto (12-2-5-8, 45 points) is in second place with three games remaining, with the Sceptres able to clinch a playoff berth if Boston beats Ottawa, or if the Charge beat the Fleet in a shootout on Wednesday. Minnesota (8-5-4-10, 38 points) currently holds the fourth and final playoff spot with three games remaining. Ottawa (10-1-4-11, 36 points) enters the week in fifth place with four games left to play, followed by New York (6-4...

 The Florida Sports Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the election of new offic-ers to its esteemed Board of Directors, bringing a wealth of expertise and dedication to the or-ganization. The newly elected officers are as follows: 1. Keyna Cory - President: Keyna Cory is President of Public Affairs Consultants. Keyna has been involved with sports her entire life. As a Junior Bowler, she was the Junior Orange Bowl Champion in 1972 and was a member of the University of Florida Bowling Team. Football has always been her passion, and she was the first woman to be chair of the Carquest Bowl in 1995. Over the years, she has worked with the late Jim Brown and his Amer-I-Can program and currently works with the bowl games in Florida on marketing opportunities. 2. John Reger - Secretary: John has an extensive background in all areas of the golf indus-try. As a 42-year member of the PGA of America, John has fulfilled a variety of roles in-cluding golf professional, tournament announcer, go...

SHREWSBURY, N.J. – Idaho Steelheads’ goaltender Ben Kraws has been named the Howies Hockey Tape ECHL Rookie of the Month for March. Kraws went 7-4-0 in 11 appearances during the month with three shutouts, a 1.92 goals-against average and a save percentage of .938. The 24-year-old allowed two goals or less in seven of 11 outings and made at least 26 saves on 10 occasions. He had six games in which he made 30 or more saves. He was named ECHL Goaltender of the Week for the week ending March 23 after going 3-0-0 with two shutouts, a 0.67 goals-against average and a save percentage of .967 in three appearances. Under a National Hockey League contract with Dallas, Kraws is 21-10-4 in 35 appearances for the Steelheads this season with a 2.88 goals-against average and a save percentage of .911. He is tied for the ECHL lead with five shutouts and tied for fifth in wins. He is also 2-1-0 in three outings with Texas of the American Hockey League. A native of Cranbury, New Jersey, Kraws made his p...

Sporting Club Jacksonville, the United Soccer League’s Northeast Florida expansion franchise, has officially appointed Stacey Balaam as the first head coach of its women’s Division One USL Super League team, which will kick off its inaugural season this August at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium. As Sporting Director and Head of Soccer Mark Warburton’s first major coaching hire, the up-and-coming coaching talent brings a recent track record of success and player development to Sporting JAX. Most recently, she served as the associate head coach at Vanderbilt University, helping to lead the NCAA Top 20 program to historic achievements since 2023. Sporting JAX technical consultant and coaching legend in women’s soccer at the University of Florida, Becky Burleigh, also assisted in the search. “Finding the right leader as our first women’s team head coach was crucial, and in Stacey, we have someone who embodies the values of Sporting JAX and has consistently displayed throug...

 JACKSONVILLE - A strong outing from Adam Mazur (L, 0-1) and two hits from Maximo Acosta were not enough for Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in their 2-0 loss to the Worcester Red Sox, Wednesday from VyStar Ballpark. Worcester struck early in the top of the first. Roman Anthony walked to begin the game. Two batters later, Marcelo Mayer (2) cracked a two- run home run which gave the Woo Sox a quick 2-0 lead over Jacksonville. Justin King and John Rooney combined to strikeout five over 3.2 innings of work. Both Jacksonville arms did not allow a run in their appearances out of the bullpen. RHP Lucas Giolito tossed 2.1 scoreless innings with one strikeout in his Major League rehab start for Worcester. Woo Sox reliever Robert Stock struck out six batters in his outing, which spanned over 4.1 innings.  

The Jacksonville Icemen, proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres and the AHL’s Rochester Americans announced today that the team has agreed to terms with forward Dalton Duhart.  Duhart, 24, joins the Icemen after posting eight points (2g, 6a) in 33 games played this season with the Bloomington Bison and the Kansas City Mavericks.  Last season, the 6-0, 180-pound rookie forward totaled 44 points (17g, 27a) in his final season at Queens University (OUA).   The Grand Blanc, Michigan resident totaled 109 points (49g, 60a) with 106 penalty minutes in 222 career Ontario Hockey League (OHL) games split in stints with the Saginaw Spirit, Barrie Colts and London Knights from 2017-2022.