Sebring Rallies To Defeat DeSoto

SEBRING, Feb. 27, 2009 – Down 5-2 to DeSoto in the fourth inning, the Sebring Blue Streaks rallied to come from behind in a 9-5 District 4A-10 win.

The triumph lifts Sebring to a 4-2 mark and helps to soften Thursday night’s bitter loss to Bartow.

Lady Streaks Win!

Sebring third basewoman Pookie Adams drives in two runs during Friday’s romp over Booker in varsity softball. Haley Pack and Wendy Negrin score.

SEBRING, Feb. 27, 2009 – Pitcher Nikki Helms fired 14 strikeouts and launched a home run over the center field fence to lead the Sebring Lady Blue Streaks to a 13-0 win over the Booker Tornado.

The Lady Streaks improved their record to 6-2 on the season and picked up another district win.

Next up is district foe and traditional archrival Avon Park. The Lady Streaks head north to play them on Tuesday at 5 p.m. in the JV match and 7 p.m. in the varsity match.

Sebring Softball, Baseball On Tap Tonight

Ready for the Opportunity: pitcher/fielder Kaitlyn Ostrander and catcher Wendy Negrin and their teammates are getting ready to rebound after losses to two tough teams. Here they are pictured before Tuesday’s chilly game at Lake Wales.

PHOTO BY SEBRING CINEMA AND SPORTS

SEBRING, Feb. 27, 2009 – Take me out to the ball games!

Students, parents, and fans have two ball games to pick from tonight – or they can go to both!

The Sebring Lady Blue Streaks host Booker at 6:30 p.m. at Lady Blue Streak field off of Kenilworth Drive. The road to the field is the third entrance to the school, but behind it, as one travels east on Kenilworth.

The Lady Streaks expect to end a two-game skid in this contest with district implications.

The boy Blue Streaks want to get their bats in gear so they can rebound from a one-hit, 6-0 loss to Bartow Thursday night. They begin play against the DeSoto Bulldogs at Firemen’s Memorial Field at 7 p.m. It is also a district game.

In both cases, only the varsity teams will be playing tonight.

The girls tennis match that had been scheduled for 4 p.m. today at Sun ‘N Lake of Sebring has been cancelled by DeSoto.

GO STREAKS!

Oscar’s Best Picture Comes To Fairmount

SEBRING, Feb. 27, 2009 – Slumdog Millionaire, the blockbuster comedy that won best picture at the 2008 Academy Awards last Sunday, opens at the Fairmount Cinema 6 today.

The arrival of Slumbdog Millionaire helps to strengthen the iron grip the Fairmount already holds on the best pictures in Highlands County. The No. 1 film at the box office, Madea Goes To Jail, plays there, as do the blockbuster hits Taken, with Liam Neeson as a CIA dad looking for his kidnaped daughter, and Clint Eastwood’s gritty Gran Torino.

The Fairmount also boasts the comedy He’s Just Not That Into You and the action thriller The International.

The Carmike tries to counter with films like Frost/Nixon and Hotel For Dogs – two good films – but the rest of the lineup is littered with commerical busts: Friday the 13th – a horrible film, The Pink Panther 2, which has devolved into a film for toddlers, Push, which desperately needs an economic shove in the wake of its failure even among its targeted youth market.

The Carmike does offer one or two 3D films, but in these difficult economic times, customers have to pay more for that “experience.” They are already paying wallet-grabbing ticket and concession prices at the Carmike, and getting all too little in customer service in return.

That leaves the Regal Eagle Ridge. The Regal also charges higher ticket and concession prices but offers good customer service and much better seating than the Carmike. It’s a legitimate alternative to watching a movie at the Carmike, especially for residents at the north end of Highlands County. But because of the Fairmount’s excellent prices, customer service, and excellent treatment of seniors, the Regal is not a worthwhile alternative to the movies that play there.

WHEREVER YOU CHOOSE TO GO, HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AT THE MOVIES!

TENNIS: Sebring Sweeps Avon Park

Sebring No. 1 seed Kelsie Johnson prepares to return a shot in her match Thursday afternoon against Avon Park’s Angie Carrillo. The Streaks defeated the Red Devils for their third team victory of the 2009 tennis season.

SEBRING, Feb. 26, 2009 – It was double trouble for Avon Park Thursday afternoon, and it was Sebring’s boys and girls tennis teams that foisted it on them.

The Streaks wiped AP, 7-0, for their fourth consecutive victory and their 28th match win without a loss. They are also unbeaten in the district, having defeated Hardee twice along with the win over AP.

The Lady Streaks added to the Red Devils misery with a 6 matches to 1 triumph.

The win lifts the Sebring girls to a 3-0 record, including 2-0 in 4A District 10. Sebring has beaten Clewiston, Hardee, and Avon Park. Braden River and DeSoto have cancelled matches against the Lady Streaks, partly because of economic restraints, according to one source.

Sebring’s lone match loss came at the No. 1 seed, where Kelsie Johnson and Angie Carrillo fought a competitive, skillful contest before Johnson succumbed, 4-6, 6-4, 1-6. It was the first match Sebring has lost so far this year.

No. 2 seed Kaley Walters (seen serving at right) defeated Kayla Lockhart, 6-0, 6-1; No. 3 seed Alyssa Kariofyllis defeated Quinterica Gordon, 6-1, 6-0; No. 4 Kelsey Tucker defeated Heather Bass, 6-0, 6-0; and No. 5 Shana Bassett defeated Lindsey McLeod, 6-0, 6-0.

Kariofyllis and Bassett defeated Gordon and Bass in their doubles match, while Johnson and Walters defeated Carrillo and Lockhart in their nightcap doubles match in a special “pro set”, 8-1.

Additional seeds Alex Birdwell, Heather McIntyre, and April Wallace won their exhibition matches, too.

In the video below, Bassett and Kariofyllis combine to score a point in their doubles match against Avon Park:

BASEBALL: Sebring Falls To Bartow

SEBRING, Feb. 26, 2009 – On Tuesday night, the Sebring Lady Blue Streaks got one hit in a 5-0 softball loss to 2007 state champion Lake Wales.

On Thursday night, the Sebring boys baseball team matched ’em.

Bartow ace Tyler Cassick strangled the Streaks, pitching a one-hitter and leaving only a smattering of men on base by walk or error in a 6-0 Yellowjacket win.

Sebring did not get a hit until Gus Williams’ double to left field in the bottom of the 7th. Cassick struck out 7 and, just when it looked like Williams might have started at least a small rally, Josh Allen took the mound to finish off the Steaks with two strikeouts.

Sebring falls to 3-2 on the year and plays at home again Friday night.

GO STREAKS!

Defense-minded Streaks Fall To Highlanders

LAKE WALES, Feb. 24, 2009 – It might not seem like much, but Lake Wales is at a higher altitude than Sebring. So it gets these shifting winds out of the northeast and the northwest that swim and swirl and make a cold night seem much colder.

It was more than the cold which froze the bats of the Lady Blue Streak varsity softball team Tuesday night. A first-class pitcher named Hannah Rogers iced them with a mixture of speed and finesse.

The result was a 5-0 loss for the Lady Streaks. Rogers fanned 11 batters, and the Streaks could manage only one hit the entire, chilly evening – a fourth inning single to center field by senior Sami Lower.

In the only moment of offensive excitement for the Streaks, Sami deftly eluded a tag by Lady Highlander Ashley King while running to second base on a sacrifice by Pookie Adams. The video is below, after which the story continues.

The breach in the Lake Wales defense closed when the next Sebring batter struck out to end the top of the fourth.

Still, Sebring had a good night defensively from the Lower sisters, Dino and Sami, Pookie Adams, Hannah Shoop, and the rest of the squad.

Freshman Haley Pack made her second start – and against arguably the strongest team Sebring will face during the regular season – and gave up only six hits. Unofficially, she gave up four walks and pitched two strikeouts.

But with their speed, the Lady Highlanders were able to milk those hits and walks for everything they were worth, notching runs one-by-one to build a lead that became insurmountable in the face of Rogers’s excellent pitching.

Pack talked afterward about the game in the video below. After the video, the story continues:

Sebring will get another shot at the Lady Highlanders when they visit the Streaks March 19.

The JVers also lost to Lake Wales by a 19-7 tally, but the defensive play showed marked improvement.

Below, first basewoman Michelle Bash slides home safely for Sebring.

URGENT: Sebring Girls Softball

LAKE WALES, Feb. 24, 2009 – The Lady Blue Streaks varsity softball team has lost to the Lake Wales Lady Highlanders in a nondistrict game, 5-0.

In the opener, the JV Lady Highlanders defeated the JV Lady Blue Streaks, 19-7.

More coverage coming.

URGENT: Sebring Boys Baseball

SEBRING, Feb. 24, 2009 – The Sebring Blue Streaks boys varsity baseball team has defeated the Palmetto Tigers, 6-2, at Palmetto.

Sebring Softball, Baseball Tonight

SEBRING, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009 – It’s a busy night for Sebring sports.

The Lady Blue Streaks travel north to nearby Lake Wales to take on the Lady Highlanders in a JV/V doubleheader.

The two varity squads collided in a regional quarterfinal last spring, when Sebring lost, 9-4 to what was then the defending state softball champions.

The score was somewhat misleading, however, as the Lady Streaks outhit the Lady Highlanders, including home runs from Hannah Shoop and Sami Lower.

The JV squad plays at 5:30 and the varsity at 7:30.

Meanwhile, the boys baseball team buses to Palmetto to square off against the Tigers. Sebring Coach Hoppy Rewis boasts a strong squad that will begin play at 7.

The Streaks then return for their home opener Thursday night at 7 against Bartow, a team they eliminated in a regional quarterfinal last year.