The Wandering Disciple

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs hosted their southern rival, the Fort Myers Miracle on Friday night at Charlotte Sport Park. The Miracle got a strong outing from starter Keaton Steele who held the Stone Crabs scoreless on the night. Fort Myers broke the scoreless tie by scoring a pair of runs in the fourth inning. Trey Varva pushes across a run with a single that scored Chris Paul. Then a sac fly by Alex Swim gave the Miracle a 2-0 lead. The Miracle added two more runs in the seventh. Kevin Garcia drove home two runs with a single to right that made it 4-0. Fort Myers added one more run in the seventh on a solo home run by Logan Wade to give them the 5-0 margin of victory. Click on the photo above to view my Stone Crabs/Miracle photo gallery  or enjoy the slideshow of photos below.

Here are the aircraft seen during today's visit to South Brohard Beach at the base of Venice Municipal Airport. O-2 Skymaster - N373AZ Piper Super Cruiser - N4136M Cessna Citation Excel - N60S  Cessna 150 - N5223Q

Boca Grande, Florida: Each year, the State of Florida recognizes the coastal history of lighthouses and their importance to the states maritime culture during Florida Lighthouse Day. This year, the Barrier Island Parks Society offered an inside look at the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse to celebrate the event. The Port Boca Grande Lighthouse was entered into service in 1890 to help mark the Boca Grande Pass and the entrance to Charlotte Harbor. This helped ensure the safety of the pass and the ships that were coming to the barrier island to transport phosphate. The lighthouse was operated by lighthouse keepers who lived on the island until the US Coast Guard took over control of the lighthouse. We headed out to Gasparilla Island State Park to tour the lighthouse during Florida Lighthouse Day. While the lighthouse operations is under control of the Coast Guard, the remainder of the lighthouse is a museum operated by the Barrier Islands Park Society. But in celebration of the Fl...

Sunday's Sports Page 1 I was a little surprised on Thursday morning when I received a Facebook message from the Charlotte Stone Crabs beat writer Josh Vitale. While the fact of receiving a message from him wasn’t surprising, it was the details of the message that was. He was inquiring if I would be interested in photographing the Charlotte Stone Crabs home opener for the Sun Herald. While I originally had not planned to attend the game due to a conflict with my son’s Little League schedule, this once of a lifetime opportunity left me with a decision to make. After discussing this with my family and our coaching staff, I decided to accept the assignment. Sunday's Sports Page 3 As Saturday approached, a new excitement did as well. While I am usually excited for the home opener, this one had new meaning to me as well. Not only was I gonna be there for the fanfare of the opener, but I was there in an official capacity, to photograph the game for the newspaper. But ...

Port Charlotte, Florida: After beginning the 2016 season on the road, the Charlotte Stone Crabs returned home to Charlotte Sports Park for their home opener on Saturday evening. Charlotte took to the field for their home opener wearing new home jersey provided by the Stone Crabs Booster Club. The Stone Crabs took an early lead by scoring in the second inning. Pat Blair scored on an RBI single by Alec Sole to put the Stone Crabs ahead 1-0. But that would be the only run the home team could muster as Palm Beach kept them off the board the remainder of the night. The Cardinals grabbed the lead in the fifth inning. Reynolds delivered an RBI single to right that scored Thompson to tie the game. Then Mercado knocked home the go-ahead run with a sac fly that scored Michael Pritchard. An RBI single by Grayson gave the Cardinals a 3-1 lead. Palm Beach added two more runs in the top of the ninth to hand the Stone Crabs their first home opener loss since 2009. Benton Moss was charged wit...

Englewood, Florida: After suffering a devastating loss in their last matchup, Key Agency sought revenge when they faced Lemon Bay Funeral Home on Thursday night at Englewood Sports Complex.  The offense came out firing on all cylinders as they cruised to a 23-9 win. Key Agency jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and added another two in the second to take a commanding 7-0 lead. A few timely hits and a couple errors in the bottom of the second allowed Lemon Bay Funeral Home to pull within a run of the lead 7-6.  But that was as close as we would get the rest of the night. Key Agency's offense went into overdrive, blowing the game wide open enroute to the big win. Click on the photo above to view my Key Agency/Lemon Bay Funeral Home photo gallery .

Englewood Florida: First place in the Englewood Area Little League was up for grabs on Tuesday night when Key Agency squared off against Labadie Construction at Englewood Sports Complex. But at the end of the night, it was Key Agency taking sole possession of the stop in the majors division following a 6-1 win. Key Agency scored in the first inning on an RBI double to take an early 1-0 lead. But the lead didn’t last long as Labadie Construction bounced back in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. But from that point on, it was the Key Agency offense in the driver seat, scoring three in the second and two more in the third to take a commanding 6-1 lead. Labadie posted a run in the fifth but it was too little too late as Key Agency cruised to the win. Click on the photo above to view my Key Agency/Labadie Construction photo gallery .

St Petersburg, Florida: After losing to the Blue Jays on opening day, the Tampa Bay Rays returned to the field at Tropicana Field for game two of the four game opening series. A combination of a red-hot power lineup for the Blue Jays and a tough to hit knuckleballer on the mound, the Rays dropped the game by the score of 5-3. The Rays took an early lead in the second inning on a solo home run by Steven Souza Jr to make it 1-0 Rays. But the Blue Jays quickly countered on a solo homer by Josh Thole in the third to tie the game. The Blue Jays took the lead fourth inning on a sac fly by Troy Tulowitzki and a two run homer by Michael Saunders to make it 4-1. Both clubs exchanged runs on the fifth, a solo homer by Josh Donaldson in the top of the inning for the Blue Jays and Kevin Kiermaier scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom of the inning made it 5-2. The Rays scored their final run of the night in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Kiemaier. But the Rays could not m...