The Wandering Disciple

Baseball fields across the country are where dreams of becoming a big league ball player begin.  It is here where the youth fall in love with the game and play their hearts out hoping to one day have a chance to play on the big fields of professional baseball.  (Photo: March 7, 2015)

Englewood All-Stars clean-up hitter MJ Patrick takes an offering deep over the centerfield fence for a homer during Sunday's game against the Venice All-Stars.  Patrick's homer was the only home run for Englewood in the tournament.  The Englewood All-Stars lost to Venice and have been eliminated from the district tournament.  (Photo: June 18, 2017)

Englewood All-Stars centerfielder Donte Taylor gets under a fly ball to center to record an out during round one of the Little League District tournament at Twin Lakes Park.  Englewood lost the opening round to Sarasota-National and will return to Twin Lakes on Sunday for a round two matchup against Venice.  (Photo: June 17, 2017)

Englewood, Florida: Today the Englewood All-Star team got their final work-out in before kicking off the District All-Star tournament tomorrow in Sarasota.  Weather had not been kind to the team this year, forcing the team to practice indoors at Top Prospect in Punta Gorda.  Today's practice was the first time the team had been able to conducting fielding practice as a team, just hours before taking the field for the first game. The 2017 Englewood 10-12 Year Old All-Star Team consists of  Wyatt Bush, Adam Lee, Cody Mayes, Jake Patrick, MJ Patrick, JP Schlicher, Wyatt Seckel, Owen Tannehill, Donte Taylor and Gabe Todaro.  Mike Patrick is the team manager with Rick Goff and Tyler Goff as coaches and Dominic Todaro and John Schlicher rounding out the coaching staff. The tournament kicks off on Saturday at Twin Lakes Field in Sarasota and Englewood squares off against Sarasota-National.  The tournament is a double-elimination format with the winner advancing o...

Englewood, Florida: Key Agency game up a bunch of runs in the opening inning creating a deficit they could not recover from as they fell to Lemon Bay Funeral Home 12-6 on Thursday night at Englewood Sports Complex. In the first inning, Lemon Bay sent fourteen hitters to the plate and pushed across nine runs in the inning. Tanner Martin, Luke Tannehill, Nash Dowd, Devin Clifford, Owen Tannehill, TJ Williams and Zeke Moranda all collected RBI’s in the inning to give them a 9-0 lead. Key Agency got on the board in the second inning. CJ Knicely drew a walk followed by a double by Troy Reames. Kniceley scored on a ground out by Aiden Bell and Reames came home on a passed ball to make it 9-2. Key Agency scored again in the third. Cody Mayes reached on a fielder’s choice and later scored on a ground ball by Knicely to make it 9-3. Lemon Bay struck for three more runs in the sixth inning. Moranda singled to lead off the inning. He moved to third on a double by Cooper Benedict....

Englewood, Florida: What has been an exciting battle so far this season, the top teams in Englewood Little League locked horns for another exciting game of baseball on Thursday night at Englewood Sports Complex. The usual dominating pitching staff of Key Agency could not contain the powerful bat of Labadie slugger Trey Rutan who went deep twice to lead Labadie to a 7-4 win. Labadie took the lead in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Charlie Dillmore drew a walk to get things going. He would later score on Rutan’s first homer of the night, a two run shot to right to put them ahead 2-0. Key Agency cut the lead in half by scoring in the bottom of the first. Jake Patrick led off the inning with a walk. He moved to second on a passed ball and later to third on a ground out by Cody Mayes. Jake Patrick then scored on a passed ball to make it 2-1. Labadie answered by scoring three more runs in the third inning. Dillmore reached on error followed by Wyatt Seckel getting hit by a p...

Englewood, Florida: Every time Key Agency and Lemon Bay Funeral Home meet up for major division action at Englewood Little League, fans are treated to an exciting game between two really good teams.  Tonight’s game would be no different as Lemon Bay struck early and held off a late rally by Key Agency to win 8-6. Lemon Bay took a three run lead in the first inning.  An RBI single by Austin Werden and two more runs on an error gave Lemon Bay a 3-0 lead. Lemon Bay scored again in the second.  Devin Clifford reached on an error to lead off the inning. He later scored on a ground ball by Matthew Howard to increase the lead to 4-0. Key Agency got on the board in the second.  MJ Patrick doubled to lead off the inning.  Troy Reames and Aiden Bell drew walks to load the bases.  The first run of the inning came off a ground ball by Gabe Todaro to score MJ Patrick.  Then Donte Taylor delivered an RBI single to score Reames and cut the lead in half...

Englewood, Florida: The red-hot offense of the league leading Key Agency lit up the diamond on Saturday night as they defeated Kimberlin Roofing 13-4 at Englewood Sport Complex. Key Agency got things going by scoring five runs in the first inning. They loaded the bases following a walk by Jake Patrick, a single by Nick George and a walk to Troy Reames.  Jake Patrick and George would then score on a single by MJ Patrick. Reames then scored and MJ Patrick moved into scoring position on an error.  Donte Taylor then drew a walk to put runners at first and second.  After back to back strikeouts, Sam Sheidy struck a two-out single to right, scoring MJ Patrick and Taylor to give them a commanding 5-0 lead. Kimberlin threatening in the bottom of the first by loading the bases but Key Agency got out number three to end the threat.  They carried the momentum into the second ining where they scored their first run of the night.  Matthew Schick drew a walk and then sc...

Englewood, Florida: Little League baseball fans were treated to an exciting game on Tuesday night as the league leading Key Agency squared off agains Lemon Bay Funeral Home is a close game. After exchanging leads three times, it was Key Agency that would hold for a 6-4 win. Key Agency took the lead in the first inning. Jake Patrick led off the inning with a double to center. He then scored on an RBI double by Nick George to give Key Agency a 1-0 lead. Lemon Bay Funeral Home took advantage of some defensive miscues by Key Agency in the third to grab the lead. Zeke Moranda delivered a hard hit ball to first that was misplayed and thrown around, allowing Tanner Martin and Matthew Howard to score to make it 2-1. Key Agency bounced back to regain the lead in the bottom of the third. Nick George singled followed by a double by Cody Mayes to give them two runners in scoring positon. Both baserunners scored on a single by MJ Patrick to give them a 3-2 lead. Lemon Bay Funeral H...

Englewood, Florida: The Key Agency offense was red hot on Saturday night as they cruised to a 17-6 win over Kimberlin Roofing at Englewood Sports Complex. Key Agency got things going right at first pitch, scoring 4 runs in the first inning of play. A base loaded walk to MJ Patrick, a two run double by Donte Taylor and an RBI by Timmy DiStefeno gave Key Agency an early 4-0 lead. Kimberlin scored in the bottom of the first on a ground ball by Carson Moore that drove home Andrew Olgilvie to make it 4-1. Key Agency bounced back with three more runs in the second. An RBI double by Cody Mayes followed by a two run homer by MJ Patrick extended the lead to 7-1. Key Agency did not stop there, striking for eight more runs in the third inning. Bases loaded walks to Jake Patrick and Troy Reames drove in runs. Then Mayes collected another RBI following a single to left. A pair of bases loaded walks to Taylor and Gabe Todaro plated a pair of runs. Then two more came on an error to en...

Englewood, Florida:  In a battle of league powerhouses, first place Key Agency used a big inning to help roll over second place Labadie Construction 12-2 on Thursday night at Englewood Sports Complex. Key Agency scored a pair of runs in the opening inning to take an early lead.  Cody Mayes broke the scoreless tie with an RBI single to score Jake Patrick.  A little later in the inning Troy Reames singled home Nick George to give Key Agency a 2-0 lead. Key Agency doubled their lead in the third.  Donte Taylor belted an RBI triple to center to post the first run of the inning.  Then Taylor later scored on a double steal to make it 4-0. Labadie scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to cut the lead in half 4-2. Key Agency added another run in the fifth on an inside-the-park homer by Reames to increase the lead to 5-2. Then game the big seven run inning for Key Agency.  Two RBI singles by Jake Patrick, a two-run homer by George,...

Englewood, Florida:   Englewood Sports park was buzzing with Saturday night Little League Baseball as Key Agency faced off against Kimberlin Roofing.  Key Agency was able to rebound from an early deficit to earn a dominating 13-5 win. Kimberlin jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning.  A fly ball to center was misplayed and allowed Aiden McNanna to score the first run of the night.  Two more runs came on an ground ball by Tyler Dunning to make it 3-0. The lead held until the top of the third.  Back to back walks to Matthew Neumeyer and Jake Patrick gave Key Agency two runners on the.  Troy Reams would reach on an error, allowing Neumeyer to score and pull to within a pair.  But the runners would not remain there long as MJ Patrick took an offering deep to left center, his first homer of the season that put Key Agency in front 4-3 Kimberlin battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the third.  Dunning reached on an error, Ja...

Englewood, Florida: Key Agency and Labadie Construction took to the field Thursday night in a battle for first place. This rivalry dates back to last season and has really produces some amazing battles and this came would be no different. Both teams exchanged leads all night until Key Agency walked off with the win and sole possession of first following a 4-3 walk-off win. The contest started as an old fashioned pitching duel with both starters tossing scoreless frames through the first two. Labadie broke the scoreless tie in the top of the third. A walk, hit batter and an error loaded the bases for Labadie. Then a misplayed grounder hit by Wyatt Bush allowed Wyatt Seckel to score and give Labadie a 1-0 lead. Key Agency answered by matching their opponents run and adding another in the third.  Donte Taylor led off the inning with a bunt single.  Gabe Todaro followed with a hard ground ball up the middle to put two runners on the bases with no outs.  A wild pit...

Englewood, Florida: A close contest quickly got out of hand as a big fourth inning helped lift Key Agency over Lemon Bay Funeral Home 9-2 on Tuesday night at Charlotte Sports Park. After dueling through two scoreless innings, Lemon Bay broke the scoreless tie by scoring in the top of the third.  Ethan Grossenbacher drew an inning opening walk to give them a baserunner.  Grossenbacher advanced to second on a passed ball and later scored on an RBI single by Zeke Moranda to make it 1-0. Key Agency answered by scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame.  They walked the bases loaded to put some heat on pitcher TJ Williams.  Then Gabe Todaro delivered a bases loaded single that scored Jake Patrick and eventually Cody Mayes to give them a 2-1 lead. Then came the big seven run fourth inning by Key Agency.  They took advantage of five walks, two hit batsmen and a two run double by Troy Reames to extend the lead to 9-1. Lemon Bay got a run back in the fi...

Englewood, Florida: The was one lone game on the schedule Saturday night as Key Agency faced off against Kimberlin Roofing in the final game before Spring Break. In a game that saw a total of 19 runs posted on the scoreboard, it was Key Agency who cruised to a 14-5 win. Key Agency capitalized on control problems from Kimberlin’s starting pitcher. Zachary Connor walked the bases loaded and then issued three bases loaded passes to give Key Agency a 3-0 lead.  Kimberlin bounced back in the bottom of the first, collecting a pair of runs to pull within a run of the lead. Jeremy Williams and Connor delivered back to back walks to lead off the inning. They both scored on an RBI triple by Carson Moore to make it 3-2. Key Agency countered with seven runs in the second inning. Two runs scored on an RBI single by MJ Patrick and two more on a double by Gabe Todaro. Sam Sheidy also collected an RBI in his first base hit of the season. Combine these hits with a couple bases loade...

Englewood, Florida: Errors and small ball end up being the krypotonite that ended the Key Agency’s quest for 4-0 before spring break as they fell to Labadie Construction 7-1 on Thursday night at Englewood Sports Complex. Labadie Construction grabbed the lead in the first inning and never really looked back. A single by Charlie Dillmore followed by a double by Trey Rutan set the offense up for a two run error that put them on the board. Then an RBI double by Josh Alexander increased the lead to 3-0. Labadie increased their lead in the second on a single and two errors which increase the lead to 5-0. Key Agency avoided the shut-out by scoring in the bottom of the third inning. MJ Patrick delivered a one out single to put a runner on the bases. Patrick later scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-1.  Labadie struck of a pair of runs on the fifth to close out the rout. Brady Kern scored on a passed ball and an RBI bunt by Dillmore gave them the 7-1 margin of victory. Rut...

Englewood, Florida: Little League fans were treated with an old fashion shoot-out on Tuesday night as Key Agency picked up a comeback win over Lemon Bay Funeral Home. Key Agency watched an early lead disappeared but managed to rally late to improve to 2-0 on the season. After starting the game off with a 1-2-3 inning, the Key Agency offense went to work in the bottom of the first to gain an early lead. Lead-off hitter Jake Patrick drew a walk to open up the frame. He later scored on a RBI double by Nick George to put Key Agency ahead by one. George later scored on a wild pitch to increase the lead to 2-0. From there, the Lemon Bay Funeral Home offense went to work, putting 7 unanswered runs on the scoreboard in the next three frames to make it 6-2. But Key Agency would not stay down for long as they came together to score six runs in the bottom of the fourth to regain the lead. Lemon Bay Funeral Home’s reliever struggled with control, issuing a few bases loaded walks comb...

Englewood, Florida: The 2017 Englewood Area Little League season opened up with a bang as Key Agency faced Kimberlin Roofing on opening day at Englewood Sports Complex.  A dominating performance from Key Agency's starter George combined with an explosive offensive onslaught helped lift them to a 15-0 win. George was untouchable, tossing a complete game no-hitter.  All 12 outs were recorded by strikeouts and the lone baserunner was from a second inning walk to Dunning. Everyone in the lineup contributed offensively to the win with the Key Agency offense posting 15 runs coming of 16 hits.  Leading the charge was lead-off hitter J Patrick who a perfect 3 for 3 and drove home a team high 3 RBI's.  Clean-up hitter Mayes also hit the ball well, finishing a home run shy of the cycle in the season opener. George picked up the win and is 1-0 on the season.  Williams was charged with the loss for Kimberlin. Next up, Key Agency will host Lemon Bay Funeral Home o...

Congrats to the 9-10 year old All-Stars from Englewood Area Youth Baseball. The team represented Englewood in the District 16 Little League Tournament at Twin Lakes Park in Sarasota. Representing Englewood are (front row L-R) Bryson Vaughn, Jake Patrick, MJ Patrick, Adam Lee, Coach Goff, (back row L-R) manager Mike Patrick, Tyler Dunning, Newcomb, Donte Taylor, Tanner Martin, Cooper Benedict, Cody Mayes, Gabe Todaro and Coach Martin. (Photo: June 22, 2016)

The joy of a walk-off win filled the air at Twin Lakes Park when the Englewood All-Stars defeated the Sarasota-National All-Stars in a thrilling extra innings game in Round Two of the District 16 Tournament.  (Photo: June 19, 2016)