The City of Sanford Recreation and Parks Babe Ruth Baseball-Softball League will hold Opening Day Ceremonies this Saturday (Feb. 26) at 10 a.m. at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium.
Admission is free and everyone is invited to honor the young people as each team and coaching staff is introduced on the Rinker-Stenstrom Field turf. Also on the schedule will be the presenting of Colors (National Anthem), an address by the Mayor, and the presentation of a special honor to a longtime booster of Sanford youth baseball and the throwing out of the ceremonial first pitch.
SEMINOLE STATE BASEBALL
The Seminole State College of Florida baseball team will continue a 10-game homestand (including a late game at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium on Tuesday) today (Wednesday) against St. Petersburg College starting at 2:30 p.m. at Jack Pantelias Field.
The Raiders will also host Hillsborough Community College (Friday, 2 p.m.) and Palm Beach State College (Saturday, 1 p.m., and Sunday, noon) before opening Mid-Florida Conference play against the College of Central Florida next Wednesday (March 2) at 3 p.m.
POLAR BEAR SOFTBALL
Here is the schedule for the Sanford Recreation Department Adult Polar Bear Softball League for games over the next week at Pinehurst Park.
In the Recreational D League on Thursday the Allegiant Air Jets will play the doubleheader against Just Us Scrubs at 7 p.m. and Team Anonymous at 8 p.m.
The Church League Monday has Central Baptist facing Westview Baptist at 7 p.m. and First Presbyterian Church squaring off with Seminole Blue at 8 p.m.
SUPPORT SHS ATHLETICS
Support Seminole High School Sports and Clubs by dining at Smokey Bones every Thursday night from 5 p.m.-to-9 p.m.
A percentage of the night’s proceeds are given to the hosting sport or club. Last year, during the 2nd semester, Seminole HS sports and clubs received over $5,500 from Smokey Bones.
DELAND MEN’S SOFTBALL
The City of DeLand Park and Recreation Department will be holding an organizational meeting for the Winter Adult Men’s Softball League on Thursday, February 24 in the Lemon Room at 6:30 p.m. and one at least one team member must attend.
The team registration fee is $345 (with at least one DeLand city resident) for the season consisting of 10, 60-minute time limit games (preseason, regular season and postseason).
The league will play on Tuesday and Thursday nights at the Sperling Sports Complex and the season will begin on March 3.
For more information, contact Colin Leisher at leisherc@deland.org or 386-740-5796.
LIBERTY CHRISTIAN
The Liberty Christian School basketball teams are headed to Jacksonville this Friday and Saturday to take part in the Sunshine Christian League State Championships.
SOAP BOX RALLY
The City of Sanford Recreation Department and Central Florida Soap Box Derby will be hosting the February Rally Derby Saturday (February 26) at 8 a.m. with a Double Elimination race in the morning and a Single Elimination race in the afternoon for each of the three divisions _ Stock, Super Stock and Masters.
Check in will be at 7 a.m. for cars and drivers.
The entry fee is $55 for each car or $100 (total) for a family (2-or-more).
Pre-registration is required prior to Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 5:30 p.m. There will be no on-site registration the day of the rally.
Races are open to children ages 8 to 16 with a limited number of loaner cars available for new participants.
Everyone, especially interested non-racers, is invited to attend any of the family friendly events, free of charge, at the beautiful Derby Park facility (21999 Oregon Ave.) located on the west side of Sanford on Oregon Avenue, north off of CR-46A (25th Street or H. E. Thomas Parkway) or east off of Rhinehart Road, just south of the GreeneWay entry. The track is near Bentley Elementary.
For more information, check out the website at www.centralfloridasoapboxderby.com or call the Sanford Recreation Department at 407-688-5120.
UCF SOFTBALL
Following a 2-2 outing at the UCF/Courtyard by Marriott Invitational I last weekend, the UCF softball team is set to hit the road today (Wednesday) for a 6 p.m. contest at Florida A&M.
The Knights enter the game with a 3-6 record on the season, which includes victories over Utah State, UIC and Delaware, while the Rattlers entertain the Black and Gold with a 4-5 overall record following play at the Jacksonville Invitational last weekend.
Fans can follow the action in Tallahassee live via Gametracker on UCFAthletics.com.
With UCF posting the pair of wins last weekend, head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie is now only four wins away from career-victory No. 600. The skipper entered the season only seven victories from the milestone and with three wins on the year she now holds a 596-443-3 NFCA record, which includes a 344-239-1 record at UCF.
The Knights will be back at home this weekend (Friday-through-Sunday) to host the UCF/Courtyard by Marriott Invitational II which will include the University of Missouri at Kansas City, Maine, Michigan, Villanova and North Florida. There will be six games each day beginning at 9 a.m. at the UCF Softball Complex.
Live coverage is available at UCFAthletics.com.
UCF BASEBALL
The UCF baseball team is off to an incredible start as the Knights were crushing previously unbeaten Bethune-Cookman (3-0), 13-0 in the top of the ninth inning Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Daytona Beach.
The big win follows up a three-game sweep of Siena (11-1, 10-1 and 14-6) on Opening Weekend.
UCF (4-0) will now head to Mobile, Alabama to take part in the South Alabama Classic Friday-through-Sunday.
The Knights will play the hosts on Friday at 7 p.m., Southeastern Louisiana at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and Alabama on Sunday at noon.
Live coverage is available at UCFAthletics.com.
SPRING TRAINING TRIPS
The City of DeLand Parks and Recreation Department is offering three bus trips to 2011 Major League Spring Training Games.
All trips will depart at 10:30 a.m. from the south parking lot at the DeLand Parks and Recreation Office, located at 230 N. Stone Street. The price includes round-trip transportation and reserved seating at the game and tickets must be pre-purchased in person and space is limited and sold on a first-come, first-served basis.
The games are, including ticket price:
* Friday, March 4 _ St. Louis Cardinals at Houston Astros (Kissimmee), $28 per person.
* Tuesday, March 8 _ New York Yankees at Atlanta Braves (ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort), $38 per person.
* Wednesday, March 16 _ Boston Red Sox at Atlanta Braves (ESPN), $38 per person.
For more information call the DeLand SRD at 386-740-5800.