Florida Sports Wire

  HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The Flagler College Saints were named the winners of the Peach Belt Conference David R. Brunk Commissioner's Cup on Tuesday night at the league's annual dinner. The award was renamed for the retiring PBC commissioner just prior to the presentation. Flagler won the award for the third time in the past six years. The first came in the 2018-19 season and the second in 2020-21. Flagler is the smallest school, in terms of enrollment, in the PBC with just under 2,500 students. "We are certainly proud of the competitive success that our teams had this year and particularly humbled to be the first recipient of the Commissioner's Cup named in honor of out outstanding outgoing commissioner, Dave Brunk," said Director of Athletics Jud Damon. The Brunk Cup is presented annually to the best overall athletic department based on regular-season standings and select championships results from cross country, golf and track & field. Associate members are n...

JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations and play-by-play voice Scott Kornberg will join the Marlins Radio Network to broadcast nine Marlins regular season games from June 6-15, when Miami plays at the Tampa Bay Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals. Kornberg made his major league debut on the Marlins Radio Network on May 18, 2024 and had the walk-off call in the Marlins’ 10-9 win over the New York Mets. He also called seven additional regular season games for Miami during the 2024 season and has broadcast select Marlins’ Spring Training games each of the last five seasons.  He will be paired with Miami Marlins broadcaster Jack McMullen and pregame host Stephen Strom on the Marlins Radio Network. Fans can listen on 940 WINZ AM and 94.9 HD2 in South Florida, as well as worldwide on MLB.tv and the MLB app. “I recognize how lucky I am, in that an opportunity like this does not always come to my colleagues in the minor leagues,...

  JACKSONVILLE — Deisiane Teixeira and Sanaa Hebron led the way for the University of Miami track and field team Thursday as Teixeira secured a spot in the NCAA Championships and Hebron advanced to the 400m hurdles quarterfinals. Teixeira opened the day in the javelin with a season-best throw of 52.72m to advance to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon. The junior will be making her second appearance at the championships after earning first team All-America honors a year ago. Hebron secured a berth to the quarterfinals of the 400m hurdles after winning her heat by nearly seven-tenths of a second with at time of 56.05. Hebron will compete in the quarterfinals Saturday at 7:25 p.m. The Hurricanes return to Hodges Stadium at 10 a.m. for the women’s shot put while the men’s discus begins at 1 p.m. Action on the track gets underway at 5 p.m. with the 4x100m relay. The NCAA East First Round will be streamed on ESPN+ while live results can be found on www.flashresults.com. To stay up...

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – A three-run eighth inning on Thursday vaulted the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp by the Gwinnett Stripers 3-1 at Coolray Field. Gwinnett (21-33) led 1-0 reliever Rolddy Muñoz (0-1) walked Jack Winkler to begin the eighth. Albert Almora followed by tying the game with an RBI double.  Maximo Acosta then gave Jacksonville (33-21) its first lead with an RBI single. Acosta maneuvered to second on a wild pitch, went to third on a ground out and then scored on Xavier Edwards’ RBI ground out to make it 3-1. George Soriano (2-1) pitched the final 3.0 innings, fanning three without a hit to earn the win. The lone Stripers run came in the first. Carlos Rodriguez singled and then José Devers doubled. A James McCann RBI ground out made it 1-0 three batters into the bottom of the first, but Gwinnett mustered just one more hit the rest of the night. Jacksonville and Gwinnett meet again in Friday’s 7:05 p.m. contest. RHP Robinson Piña (3-2, 3.48 ERA) starts for the Jumbo Shrimp ag...

  JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville Icemen, ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres and the AHL’s Rochester Americans are pleased to announce the removal of the interim tag to Sean Teakle and Garrett Cockerill.  Teakle officially becomes the fourth head coach in Icemen history, while Cockerill will officially return as assistant coach.   “We are very pleased to announce Sean Teakle as our new head coach,” said Zawyer Sports VP of Hockey Operations Joe Ernst. “Sean proved over the last half of this past season that he is the right person both on and off the ice to lead the Icemen. The passion, enthusiasm, teaching and communication that Sean brings to the rink every day is second to none. We cannot think of a more deserving and prepared individual to lead the Jacksonville Icemen Hockey Team while having the confidence that he will put a competitive team on the ice each night that will continue to make Jacksonville proud.”  Teakle was initially elevated from ass...

By Steve Eubanks Six-time winner and one of the original LPGA pioneers, Jo Ann Prentice, passed away on Sunday, May 18, 2025, at the age of 92. A native of Birmingham, Ala., Prentice is one of few female golfers in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame alongside several notable Alabamians such as Jesse Owens, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Carl Lewis. Prentice was also instrumental in creating the Birmingham Classic, a tournament she never won but one that remained a popular mainstay on the LPGA Tour for a decade from 1972 to 1982.  Her most notable victory came in 1974 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. at the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle, the event that would become the LPGA’s first major of the season, The Chevron Championship. On April 21, 1974, Prentice defeated Jane Blalock and Sandra Haynie in a playoff for what was, at the time, the largest check in women’s golf.  She won again three weeks later, this time a two-shot victory over Laura Baugh at the American Defender Raleigh Classi...

  JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp have promoted long-time employee Brian DeLettre to Director of Production. A native of Jacksonville, DeLettre’s sports career began with the Jacksonville Suns in 1998. Over more than 25 years with the Jacksonville baseball franchise, DeLettre’s roles have included bat boy, clubhouse assistant, playground coordinator, usher, box office assistant, official scorer and media relations assistant. He joined the full-time staff in 2013. As the Director of Production, DeLettre oversees all aspects of the HD videoboard displays installed at VyStar Ballpark. He also helps manage www.jaxshrimp.com, supervises the press box staff, designs the digital publications and sells season and group ticket packages. DeLettre earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education with emphasis in sports administration from Jacksonville University, where he worked in the athletic media relations office from 2005 to 2013. He also worked as a communications assistan...

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2025 regular season schedule was released by the National Football League. After winning the NFC South division title for the fourth consecutive year, the Buccaneers will again face five division winners from the 2024 season – the maximum number a team can play in the 17-game format. Tampa Bay’s 50th season will commence with a trip to take on the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1 at 1 p.m. ET on FOX. The Buccaneers will have a chance to extend their run to a franchise record five consecutive wins in season openers, and are 1-of-4 teams to have won their season opener in each of the past four seasons. In Week 2, the Buccaneers will return to the city of their 1976 inaugural game as they pay a visit to the Houston Texans and play on the primetime stage of Monday Night Football (7 p.m. ET on ABC). The home opener at Raymond James Stadium will take place in Week 3 when the Buccaneers take on the New York Jets (1 p.m. ET on FOX). In Head Coach Todd Bowles’ first regular se...

  JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville Jaguars have announced three additions to the coaching staff as part of the NFL’s Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship program: Ari Confesor, Anthony Gaitor and Dawson Odoms. The three coaches will be with the team for the Jaguars’ offseason program from May to June. For over 30 years, the league-wide fellowship program has helped outstanding coaches gain exposure to NFL training camps and offseason workout programs. Confesor brings 15 years of coaching and scouting experience with stops at the University of Rhode Island (2009-12 and 2013-18), the Kansas City Chiefs (2012-13), College of the Holy Cross (2018-19), the United States Air Force Academy (2019-23) and Wake Forest University (2023-25). He most recently served as wide receivers coach at Wake Forest University and tutored the program’s all-time leader in receiving yards, WR Taylor Morin, to Honorable Mention All-ACC honors in 2024. Confesor earned a bachelor’s degree in political scien...

JACKSONVILLE – Miami Marlins infielder Otto Lopez will begin an injury rehabilitation assignment for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. Lopez was placed on the 10-day injured list on May 4 with a right ankle sprain, retroactive to May 3. Thus far in 2025, he has played in 30 games for the Marlins and slashed .229/.294/.330/624, walking 10 times while driving in 11. Born in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic before spending part of his childhood in Montreal, Lopez was originally signed by the Toronto Blue Jays on July 4, 2016 as an international free agent. He played in Toronto’s system before making his major league debut for the Blue Jays on August 17, 2021 in a game against the Washington Nationals. In 2022, Lopez was 6-for-9 at the plate in eight games with Toronto. He played the entirety of the 2023 campaign with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons in Western New York, slashing .258/.313/.343/.656 with nine doubles, six triples, two home runs, 35 RBIs, 48 runs and 13 steals in 84 games. ...

  The Tampa Bay Buccaneers confirmed the dates and times of the team’s 2025 preseason slate, which will feature matchups with the Tennessee Titans, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Buffalo Bills. Tampa Bay will kick off its 2025 preseason with a home game at Raymond James Stadium against the Tennessee Titans on Saturday, August 9, at 7:30 p.m. ET. This will be the first preseason contest between the teams after playing back-to-back in 2021 and 2022. In preseason Week 2, the Buccaneers will travel to face the Pittsburgh Steelers for a 7:00 p.m. ET kickoff on Saturday, August 16. The Buccaneers have played six prior preseason contests against the Steelers, with the most recent matchup coming in 2023. The Buccaneers will close out the 2025 preseason at home against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, August 23, at 7:30 p.m. ET, marking the first preseason game between the two teams since 2014. All three preseason contests will be aired locally on WFLA News Channel 8, the Buccaneers official home f...

JACKSONVILLE - The Gator Bowl Sports Board of Trustees recently elected its 2025-26 full slate of volunteer leadership including Chairman, Officers and Advisory Board. Elected as Chairman for the 2025-26 season is Sara Pomposo, Vice President of Sales for Money Pages.  Prior to her new role with Money Pages, Sara built strong corporate and community relationships through her previous leadership as VP of Marketing & Brand Strategy for BHRS Companies and as Publisher and Market President for the Jacksonville Business Journal, which brought her to Jacksonville in 2017.   Chairman Pomposo joined Gator Bowl Sports in 2017 and has served in a variety of volunteer leadership positions.  In 2021, she was instrumental in founding “The Bowl’d Ladies” which is the women’s membership group of the Gator Bowl. In her spare time, Sara and her husband Chris Pomposo own Wick ‘n Twisted, a pour your own experience in Jacksonville Beach featuring custom candle scents and the beach’...

JACKSONVILLE – Multi-RBI games from Brian Navarreto and Deyvison De Los Santos helped the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp secure a 5-2 win and series split against the Syracuse Mets, Sunday from VyStar Ballpark. Trailing 1-0 in the second, De Los Santos worked a leadoff walk for Jacksonville. Maximo Acosta singled and Albert Almora Jr. walked to load the bases. With the bases juiced, Navarreto laced a two-run single, giving the Shrimp the lead. Jacob Berry followed with an RBI knock, extending the Jumbo Shrimp lead to three. Syracuse responded in the fourth. With one out, Luis De Los Santos (3) smashed a solo blast, making it 3-2. Leading by a run, Andrew Pintar singled to begin the sixth. With a runner at first, De Los Santos (4) clobbered a two-home run, giving Jacksonville a 5-2 advantage. The Mets opened the scoring in the first. Gilberto Celestino singled to start the game. Two batters later, Joey Meneses ripped single, advancing Celestino to third. With runners at corners, Celestino s...

TALLAHASSEE – Florida State football recognized 10 student-athletes with the 2025 Parrish Owens Heart of a Nole Award, head coach Mike Norvell announced Wednesday. Quarterbacks Tommy Castellanos and Brock Glenn, along with running back Jaylin Lucas and offensive linemen Adrian Medley and Luke Petitbon, earned the award for offense. On defense, this year’s recipients are defensive back Earl Little Jr., linebackers Justin Cryer and Omar Graham Jr. and defensive linemen Darrell Jackson Jr. and James Williams. “The offseason is a vital piece of our development as a team, both as individual growth and in leadership within our program,” Norvell said. “These 10 honorees have done an exceptional job of embracing the responsibility of leadership and demonstrating growth in all areas while being full participants in every practice this spring. I’m proud of the work Tommy, Brock, Jaylin, Adrian, Luke, Earl, Justin, Omar, Darrell and James have done and am happy to recognize them with this award ...

  The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (“NASCAR”) and TelevisaUnivision, Mexico’s leading media company, today announced an exclusive broadcast agreement for free-to-air coverage of the sanctioning body’s Mexico City race. Under this new agreement, TelevisaUnivision will serve as the exclusive free-to-air (FTA) broadcaster in Mexico for the highly anticipated 2025 NASCAR Cup Series race in Mexico City, scheduled for Sunday, June 15 at 3 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. local time. The race will be broadcast live on TelevisaUnivision’s ‘Canal 5’ with full spanish-language commentary. In addition to live race coverage, TelevisaUnivision will also deliver weekly NASCAR highlights, including 52-minute race cutdowns and short-form clips from the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. These will be distributed across TelevisaUnivision’s linear and digital platforms, including ViX, its streaming service and official social media channels. “We are thrilled to partner with TelevisaUnivision to b...

FLORENCE, S.C. – Flagler College rallied from a 7-0 deficit to take a 9-8 lead in the fifth inning only to fall short in the end 12-10 to Wingate University in an elimination game of the NCAA Division II Southeast Region No. 1 Tournament Friday night at the FMU Softball Stadium. Flagler ended its season with a 33-22 record. Wingate improved to 39-22 overall and will have to beat top-seed Francis Marion University twice tomorrow to advance to the super regional round. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but the Saints chipped away and got four in the third, one in the fourth, and erupted for four runs in the fifth to take a 9-8 lead. Flagler took advantage of a Wingate error to plate four unearned runs in the fifth. Jordan Moss reached on a throwing error by the Wingate third baseman and Reese Snipes scored on the play to cut the deficit to 8-6. Sydney Stewart hit a two-run double through the left side of the infield that rolled to the wall to tie the game. Emily Ricci's s...

  JACKSONVILLE - Former Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp right-handed pitcher Elvis Alvarado made his major league debut Friday for the Athletics against the New York Yankees at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento. Alvarado came out of the bullpen and worked 1.2 innings with two strikeouts, though the A’s lost 10-2 to the Yankees. A member of the 2024 Jumbo Shrimp, Alvarado appeared in 39 games for Jacksonville last season, going 3-4 with a 2.79 ERA. Over 48.1 innings, he ceded just 33 hits (6.1 H/9) and struck out 71 (13.2 K/9). Following the season, Alvarado signed a major league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was designated for assignment on January 29 and claimed the next day by the A’s. Originally signed by the Washington Nationals in 2015 as an outfielder, Alvarado made his professional debut in 2017 before transitioning to the mound for the 2018 season. At the 2019 trade deadline, he was sent as part of the package to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for right-hander Hunter...

  ORLANDO – Cole Moberg’s power-play goal with 1:48 left in the third period snapped a 1-1 tie as the Florida Everblades defeated the Orlando Solar Bears 3-1 in Game Five of the South Division Finals Saturday night at Kia Center.  Saturday’s victory wrapped up the best-of-seven series for Florida by a four-games-to-one margin and sealed a 14th consecutive postseason series win as the South Division Champion Blades have cleared another hurdle en route to a possible fourth consecutive Kelly Cup title. Orlando scored the only goal of the first period as Anthony Bardaro put the Solar Bears ahead 1-0 at 7:51 of the opening frame. That early tally proved to be the only goal of the contest for the home team, as the Everblades limited the Solar Bears to just 11 shots on goal over the rest of the match. Colton Hargrove knotted the game 3:25 into the second frame, tipping home his fifth goal of the playoffs with Moberg and Logan Lambdin picking up the assists. While the Everblades were...

PONTE VEDRA BEACH -  THE PLAYERS Championship is now accepting applications for its annual Red Coats’ community grant program, which provides funding to eligible nonprofits in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties.  The program awards local nonprofits with grants up to $15,000 to support initiatives and projects that benefit the Northeast Florida community. Grants are awarded to organizations supporting youth services, education, character development, health, wellness, sports and military support. Last year, the program awarded grants to 50 local nonprofits, advancing impactful community initiatives across Northeast Florida.  Rusty Pritchett, Captain of the Red Coats, expressed excitement about supporting the work of nonprofits across Northeast Florida, stating, “It is our honor to be able to fund so many deserving organizations in Northeast Florida. The Red Coats take great pride in contributing to initiatives that make a lasting impact in our community.” Th...