USF

Top high school baseball team in nation remains unbeaten

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – When you’re the No. 1 high school baseball team in the nation, in both the USA Today and MaxPreps rankings, each game feels like so much is on the line.

Olympia baseball

Olympia won the Florida League High School Invitational on Saturday to improve to 17-0-1.

Orlando’s Olympia High School improved to 17-0-1 on the season Saturday while defending its Florida League High School Invitational title with a 2-0 win over Pembroke Pines Charter at Lake Brantley High School.

The national attention will continue to follow the Titans as they near postseason play.

“We try not to focus on that,” Olympia coach Chuck Schall said. “The rankings and all that, it’s always there, but we try not to let those expectations dictate how we play.

“Every time we win these close ballgames it just makes us tougher.”

Olympia is winning close games thanks to a stable of quality pitchers and equally impressive efforts defensively.

(Read more about Olympia’s recent win at Orlando Sentinel and 740 The Game)

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Carnahan Coverage: Temple routs UCF in men’s basketball

ORLANDO, Fla. – Will Cummings has been hampered by a leg injury over the past few weeks, but in his return to the Sunshine State on Wednesday he helped Temple terrorize UCF to the tune of 86-62.

Family and friends made the trip from Jacksonville to see Cummings in action and he did not disappoint, finishing with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Read more about the game in a story I wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News.

Carnahan Coverage: Linebacker Withney Simon still awaiting first scholarship offer

ORLANDO, Fla. – He’s done all that’s been asked of him yet Orlando Jones High School’s Withney Simon, the No. 2-rated linebacker in Central Florida, is unsure of his football future.

I caught up with Simon following the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl earlier this month at the Florida Citrus Bowl and asked him about his college options. He said that although he’s got the grades to qualify for football at the next level, he’s a bit surprised at how little interest he’s garnered from college programs.

( – Click here to read J.C.’s feature on Withney Simon for Orlando Sentinel – )

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Carnahan Coverage: Justin McBride tallies career-high in points & rebounds in UCF win

Justin McBride broke out in a big way for the UCF Knights on Sunday in Orlando during a 75-67 win over undersized Bethune-Cookman.

The sophomore center came off the bench seven minutes into the game and had his way in the low post before going on to finish with a career-high 31 points and 8 rebounds in 22 minutes of work.

“My teammates really made an effort to throw me the ball,” McBride said. “They just found me and I started scoring a little bit, and the basket got bigger and bigger.”

( – Click here to read J.C.’s recap of UCF vs. Bethune-Cookman for the Orlando Sentinel – )

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Carnahan Coverage: Orlando City Soccer Club Wins Home Opener

If you keep up with professional soccer here in the states it’s likely that you already know about the expansion plans of Major League Soccer.

In 2015 the league will add two franchises – a brand new team in New York and USL Pro side Orlando City – to its roster of franchises.

But first, the defending champion Lions must finish out one more season in the second division. They hosted their home opener on Saturday, finishing in a 1-1 draw with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

– (Click here to read my recap for the Orlando Sentinel) –

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