Prose and Kohn: Area spring athletes get their due

My allergies have kicked into high gear in the past week. 

That's how I know the spring sports season is, somehow, coming to its conclusion in the next month or so. Lacrosse is already into its regional tournament stage, for goodness sake. Spring feels like the shortest season and somehow has the most sports in it. It's not a great recipe for one-man sports departments at newspapers. I can't cover nearly as much as I'd like. It's one reason why I started writing columns highlighting some of the under-covered athletes in our area. 

Like I always say, there's no hard and fast criteria for inclusion in this column; it's just a collection of high school spring athletes I think deserves more recognition than they have thus far received (particularly from me). 

If lacrosse rosters had official point guard designations like in basketball, Cardinal Mooney High junior Sean Laureano would be the Cougars'. He's the guy who turns the cogs for the Cougars, who are back in the regional round of the postseason. Laureano has 39 goals, which is good, but he also has a team-high 45 assists. He's an unselfish player who thrives on setting up teammates such as senior Patrick McGrath, who had a team-high 57 goals. The Cougars have won four of their last six games (including a district title) and seem to be carrying a lot of momentum into the regional stage. They will play St. Stephen's Episcopal — the team they just beat for the district title — on April 20 in the regional quarterfinals, then, if they win, will play either the Community School of Naples or Bishop Verot High in the regional semifinals. No matter the opponent, the Cougars always have a chance to win thanks to unselfish players like Laureano. 

Brooke Bendel is having a breakout year for the Sarasota High softball team. Bendel, a sophomore, is hitting .383 with six home runs and 19 RBI. No one else on the team has more than two home runs, so Bendel has been carrying the power load. It's been paying off: the Sailors are 14-6 this year after going 12-10 in 2021. As of April 20, two games remain in the Sailors' regular season schedule, including a meeting with defending state champion Lakewood Ranch High on April 25. Splitting those games would set the team up well for their district tournament — where they project to be the No. 1 seed — and beyond. Thanks to Bendel's power surge, the Sailors have a chance to make some noise. 

On the boys side of the diamond, Riverview High senior Christopher "Pip" Smalley has been getting it done at the plate and on the mound — so no, the 6-foot-3 Smalley is not only being chosen because of his great nickname. Smalley, a Stetson commit, is hitting .436 with five doubles, four triples and 20 RBI along with six steals. On the mound, Smalley has a 1.45 ERA and has struck out 36 while walking 13. Smalley's strong play has helped the Rams to a 15-6 record. As of April 20, the team has won seven games in a row and appears to be playing its best baseball as the postseason approaches. Continued strong play from Smalley will help the team's overall level of play stay at that level. 

Booker High sophomore Jakai Peterson has had another solid season on the track after reaching the girls state meet in multiple events as a freshman. Peterson sits tied for ninth in Class 2A in the long jump (5.35 meters) with Berkeley Prep junior Ellis Weekley. The pair is only 0.22 meters away from third-place Kendal Haf, a senior from Nature Coast Tech, so a medal is not out of the question is Peterson jumps to the best of her ability at state competition next month. 

Riverview sophomore Luis Castaneda, a discus thrower, is also having a great season. Castaneda handily won the boys event at the Sarasota County Championships on April 11 with a throw of 45.90 meters. Castaneda is 12th in Class 4A in the event, but even if he fails to finish in the top-10 this year, he's almost guaranteed to next season; 10 of the 11 throwers in front of him are seniors. With another offseason in a high school weightlifting program and refining his technique, Castaneda has a great shot at a medal in 2023. He's still worth watching in 2022, too. 

As is Sarasota distance runner Alec Miller, who sits fifth in Class 4A in the 1,600-meter run (4:19.06). Miller is less than three seconds away from a medal spot, an amount of time easily made up during a big race (like the state meet). Interestingly, the three times directly ahead of Miller were set at the same race, the Florida Relays on April 2. Miller didn't run that race. If he had, would the pressure of keep up with the other top runners have dropped his time even lower? It's interesting to think about and makes me even more confident in him as states approaches. 

Finally, I'd be remiss not to mention all the area weightlifters who qualified for the state meet, held this weekend in Port St. Joe. I don't want to single out one weightlifter here because, well, they're all excelling at the same thing based on their weight class, so I'm going to list them all. From Riverview, Dabien Reitz, Ahmad Hunter, Max Kollar, Walter Leise, Jonathan Petty qualified in the traditional division (bench press and clean and jerk) and from Cardinal Mooney, JR Rosenberg and Kyle Cooke qualified in the traditional division. Congratulations, guys. Now go chalk those hands and lift as much as you can at states.