Thirteen talented local athletes will play in the Cal Ripken District Tournament in June. The Manatee 8U All Stars are currently trying to raise funds to help the team with travel expenses to Ocala.
Matt Zoltak, 24, is the inventor of the patent-pending ExcelCord, which provides heel-based resistance training for athletes.
One Sarasota entrepreneur hopes professional athletes can't resist his workout tool called the ExcelCord. "We want to create a core-strengthening product that's not only going to help you get better at your sport, but it's going to strengthen the muscles directly involved with what you do," ExcelCord inventor Matt Zoltak tells Patch. Zoltak, 24, says it's all in the heel. The former college and minor league pitcher created a special harness that stabilizes the foot and connects to a cord at the heel of the shoe providing resistance training and freedom of motion. He says it's to designed to help a pitcher's back drive leg through strengthening the abs, glutes and legs. Getting started is relatively easy. "Always start with the cord taught …
Baseball America picks Cole, Taillon and Ngoepe among the top 20 prospects, two making the top five.
Three Bradenton Marauders were named to Baseball America’s 2012 Florida State League Top Prospects list for the first time in franchise history. Pitchers Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon became the first Marauders to crack the top five, placing second and third. Shortstop Gift Ngoepe ranked 20th among top prospects. Cole’s second-place ranking is the highest rank achieved by a Marauder, the Advanced-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Cole spent the first half of the 2012 season in Bradenton before ascending to pitch in double-A and triple-A during the second half. The top pick in the 2011 draft out of UCLA did not disappoint in his first professional season, posting a 5-1 record and a 2.55 ERA during his tenure with the Marauders. …
Live music at a few other locations and wine specials at Gecko's on Thursday.
It’s hard not to write about baseball these days, even though this is a column about bars. It’s just that time of the year! Clancy’s has one of the best deals in town while the Rays are on TV. If you’re up for live baseball, check out the Marauders Thursday night for dollar beers. Tonight also is “Turn Back the Clock Night” as the Marauders pay homage to the Bradenton Growers, McKechnie Field’s original tenants from 1919-26. The players will be wearing 1919 throwback jerseys during the game. See below for more info. Also, I’ve included a shameless plug about Bradenton Night with the Rays Part 6. Keep reading:
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The 9th annual Heatstroke Hotrod Hoedown returns to downtown with live music, beer and roller derby girls.
Ready to get sweaty? The 9th annual Heatstroke Hotrod Hoedown returns to its roots in downtown Bradenton and is bringing with it a host of bands, a custom bike and hotrod show, food and drinks and its signature “hip, awesomely rowdy and fiercely fun” time. The event will take place from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday on Seventh Avenue West outside of P-Man’s Classic Cycle Paint, 721 7th Ave. W. Event organizers gained permission from the city to barricade a block of Seventh Avenue between 7th-8th streets west from vehicular traffic. P-Man, the creator of Heatstroke Hotrod Hoedown and whose real name is Paxton Richards, is again teaming up with Sarasota-based community radio station WSLR-LP 96.5 to bring the event back to Bradenton. It moved to …
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All-Star first baseman Mark Teixeira will offer regular features, provide baseball tips and answer your baseball questions throughout the 2012 season.
Patch has appointed New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira as the Commissioner of Patch Baseball. The two-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove Award winner will interact with Patch users on the company's network of more than 850 sites this baseball season by regularly responding to your questions, sharing baseball tips, and posting exclusive videos. Teixeira will also offer young athletes advice on how to stay in shape and why healthful eating is so important for optimal performance. “I live in a Patch town now and I keep tabs on my original hometown via the Patch site there, so I’ve seen the ways that Patch supports its communities,” Teixeira said. “I’m excited to be a part of that by connecting with Patch users who have the same …
McKechnie Field gets its liquor license and other events around town.
It was inevitable that McKechnie Field would get a liquor license because, after all, there’s really no way to operate a tiki bar without one. That isn’t necessarily a reference to the tiki bar that’s currently operating at McKechnie Field. Sure, it’s a nice spot to have a few drinks, especially on Thursdays when the beer is only a buck. But that tiki bar is just getting fans by until construction starts on a wrap-around boardwalk and a bigger and better tiki bar behind the outfield wall. It is expected to open for spring training in 2013. That may seem like a ways away, but at least the “temporary” tiki is now selling the hard stuff. More information below.
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In his fourth year as the head coach of his high school alma mater, Dwayne Strong has guided the Hurricanes to the program's first state semifinal since 1963.
Transforming the sporting culture at a high school predominately known as a football powerhouse has not made Manatee High head coach Dwayne Strong immune to criticism. With the Hurricanes heading to their first state semifinal appearance since winning the Class 2A state championship in 1963, the lone barb that could be launched at Strong is he does not smile enough. At least, that is what he has been told. "It’s funny because everyone wants to say, 'you don’t smile a lot,' but there are a lot of things the head guy has to do that nobody else has to do," Strong said. "When the day is done, they don’t have to worry about those little things. I spent all day (Monday) making hotel reservations, getting a bus, making dining arrangements, …
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Hurricanes end host Pinellas Park’s postseason run with a 12-6 win in 5A regional finals.
Manatee High is a school best known for its football program, with four state titles, two state runners-ups and five state semifinals under its belt. But his year the Hurricanes baseball team is stealing some of the thunder from the football program. It advanced to its first state final four with a decisive 12-6 win over host Largo Pinellas Park on Friday night. The last time that happened was 48 years ago. Manatee (22-8) scored five runs in the first inning and at least one run in every inning except for the fourth, and starting pitcher Correlle Prime settled down after allowing a grand slam in the second inning to lead the Canes to the state final four for the first time since 1963. “This is a vision I saw when I got here in 2007,” an …
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Senior Cameron Cox hit two home runs and recorded the save in Tuesday night's 5-3 victory over visiting Island Coast.
When the late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner called Dave Winfield “Mr. May,” it wasn’t meant as a term of endearment. However, any high school baseball player would gladly embrace the moniker since May represents playoff time in the state of Florida. If Tuesday night was any indication, Southeast High senior Cameron Cox may just be the Seminoles’ “Mr. May.” Cox accounted for all five of Southeast’s runs by hitting a pair of home runs before he was called to the mound in the top of the seventh inning to close out visiting Cape Coral Island Coast in the Class 3A-Region 3 quarterfinals. As soon as Cox retired the third batter he faced, the Seminoles were celebrating a 5-3 victory and preparing for Friday night’s semifinal in Fort …
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4:57 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012
There's always been beer at McKechnie. In fact, draft beers at Thursday home games for the Marauders are only a buck. I haven't missed too many home games since the Marauders began playing here two years ago - especially on a Thursday night - and I don't recall any alcohol-related incidents. more ›