Sports Briefs

+ Bulldog teams defeat Buccaneers
The East Manatee Bulldogs Mitey Mite and Junior Midget teams both defeated the Suncoast Buccaneers Oct. 1.

The Mitey Mites shut out the Buccaneers 15-0, while the Junior Midgets defeated the Buccaneers 36-8.

The Junior Midgets (5-1) yielded 640 yards of total offense. Quarterback Nate Strawderman threw for 250 yards and three touchdowns. Brandon Chrisan rushed for 185 yards and three touchdowns, and Kyle Struthers caught a touchdown and finished with 140 receiving yards.

Offensive linemen Keaton Bruder, Lucas Caraher, Connor Snead, George Leibold and Ethan Ball powered the Tiny Mites to touchdowns on all of the Bulldogs’ possessions. Quarterback Hunter Wright and wide receiver Dario Aquilar led the scoring for East Manatee.

+ Mustangs win Donald Ross Tournament
The Lakewood Ranch High boys golf team broke the Donald Ross Tournament record by 13 shots to win the 15-team event for only the second time in school history.

The Mustangs (65-0) shot a 9-under par 279 to beat all of the other teams by more than 18 shots. Co-captain Kyle Benson finished as the individual runner-up with a 4-under par 68. Ramsey Touchberry shot 69, followed by Connor Baldwin (70), Hunter Sagar (72) and Danny Walker (76).

+ River Dawgs win regional championship
The Florida River Dawgs 11U travel baseball team won the GSA Super Regional Championship Oct. 1-2 at Lakewood Ranch Park.

Tyler Reed pitched a complete game, allowing just two hits, as the River Dawgs defeated P.T.I. Rawlings 7-1 in the championship game. Harrison Thiel hit a two-run homerun in the second inning, and Hunter Bogumil added two doubles and drove in a pair of runs to seal the victory for the River Dawgs.

The team went 4-0 through the tournament, outscoring its opponents 40-18. Championship players include Reed, Bogumil, Harrison Thiel, Charlie George, Matt Gelorme, Rob Arkel, Chase Jackson, Collin Goda, Jared Dole, Mason Kolbe and Anthony Squitieri.

The River Dawgs return to action in the USSSA Slugtoberfest Oct. 14-16 at the Sarasota Cal Ripken Complex.

+ Lady Mustangs race to third-place finish
The Lakewood Ranch High girls cross country team finished third at the Flrunners.com Invitational Oct. 1 in Satellite Beach.

The Lady Mustangs were invited to run in the prestigious Race of Champions. The team scored 113 points, finishing third out of 16 teams, behind Estero (70) and Ferguson (99).

Olivia Ortiz, who had been fighting a cold throughout the week, won the invitational, finishing in 17:35.82 and crushing her previous school record of 18:15.

Kristin Zarrella finished 15th in 18:56, followed by Devin McDermott (19th) in 19:00, Natalie Novak (48th) in 20:15, Katie Wray (50th) in 20:15, Ashley Platt (60th) in 20:32, Michelle Last (80th) in 20:58 and Emily Perez (95th) in 21:35.

The Lady Mustangs return to action Oct. 8 in the Disney Invitational during ESPN’s Wide World of Sports.

+ Mustangs finish 11th in Boys Invitational Race
The Lakewood Ranch High boys cross country team finished 11th out of 30 teams at the Boys Invitational Race Oct. 1.

Co-captain Evan Dipsiner finished 51st in 17:35 to lead the way for the Mustangs. Mitch Arnold finished 53rd in 17:37, followed by Quintin Wampler (65th) in 17:50, Chris Branch (83rd) in 18:03 and co-captain Brandon Jones (90th) in 18:11.