Vero boys lacrosse, Lincoln Park, Central, Westwood flag football advance in playoffs

VERO BEACH — As well as the Vero Beach boys lacrosse had been playing entering a 2-2A regional semifinal against Lake Howell, even head coach Rory Whipple didn't foresee the start his kids got off to Wednesday night.

Vero Beach ripped off six goals in the first quarter and held the Silver Hawks off the scoreboard well into the second half in a dominant 14-2 victory at the Citrus Bowl to advance to the regional championship game.

Despite battling a soggy field from the onset, Vero controlled all phases of the game in the opening 12 minutes as Major Croom set the tempo immediately with a goal 17 seconds in.

Three goals from Tanner Lenhardt and a pair from Will Dunlap helped Vero Beach 6-0 after the first quarter and at zero point in the first half did the home team allow Lake Howell any life with their performance.

Two goals from Ethan Hunt, another goal from Lenhardt and a goal from Carson Farrow gave Vero Beach a commanding 10-0 halftime lead and the two teams had to wait out an hour-plus-long weather delay but it didn't deter Vero from playing like the game was 0-0.

"I thought this game was going to be a lot closer, (Lake Howell) had 13 wins, played a solid schedule, was third in the region but the kids tonight were focused, they came out and ran the offense," Whipple said. "Little luck went our way, won some faceoffs, and we did the right things to get us ahead and once we came back from the rain delay at halftime, we stuck two in right away to stick the fork in them."

Elliot Stevens and Dunlap added goals in the second half and Hunt added two more goals to give him four for the night along with Lenhardt, who racked up a team-high four assists for Vero Beach.

A rematch against Winter Park on Saturday with a berth in the 2A state semifinals in on the docket next for Vero Beach, who has won six straight games and has already seen the Wildcats once this season.

A 17-8 defeat for Vero on Mar. 18 gave the team a look at what Winter Park does well and Whipple believes his kids have the momentum and belief they can go on the road to exact revenge if they stick to the script.

"I'm excited, I think this is the furthest we've been in program history and we've had a lot of good senior leadership," Whipple said. "It's been a great year, starting out I didn't think too much of the team but we're playing good lacrosse. Everybody's doing the right things and we've got just enough guys that, we're playing good lacrosse."

2-1A

Lake Highland Prep 12, St. Edward's 11: Rallying down from a 9-4 deficit, the Pirates (13-6) stormed all the way back to hold a brief 10-9 lead but fell in the regional semifinals on the road in Orlando.

Flag Football

3-2A

(8) Fort Pierce Central 13, (1) Martin County 7

In a rematch of a regular season battle that went down to the wire in overtime, two late defensive stands by the Cobras made the difference.

An interception by Whitney D'Haiti set up a trick play touchdown pass from Adrienne Rivera to Alyssa Llanos that put Fort Pierce Central ahead and the Cobras were able to halt a final drive by the Tigers to secure their spot in next week's regional semifinals.

Martin County took the lead as Cali Scornavacca hit Hailey Walsh on a 7-yard touchdown connection to begin the second quarter but a stop by the Cobra defense proved important later in the game on the one-point attempt.

The Tigers (12-2) shut down Fort Pierce Central on four straight plays inside their own five-yard line late in the second quarter to hold their 6-0 halftime edge.

Fort Pierce Central took the lead in the third quarter as Rivera flung up a pass to the goal line that Llanos snared just above the ground from 15 yards out that tied the game and a successful pass from Rivera to Williams put the Cobras (12-7) out in front.

Winning their eighth straight game, Fort Pierce Central will take on Spanish River on Wednesday, May 5 in the regional semifinals.

3-1A

(2) Lincoln Park Academy 26, (7) Belleview 7

Overcoming an early 7-0 hole, Greyhound quarterback Leah Murphy threw two touchdowns and ran in two more on the ground to help Lincoln Park win their 11th straight game.

Murphy hit Lahela Cornett on a 3-yard catch and ran in the one-point conversion that tied the game at 7-7 midway through the second quarter before weather rolled in that halted the game for over an hour.

After returning to action, the Greyhounds (13-2) surged as Kylah Tiger picked off a Belleview pass that would eventually set up a Murphy touchdown pass to Faith Hall that gave Lincoln Park a 13-7 halftime lead.

A Murphy touchdown run in the third quarter and another in the fourth quarter was more than enough for Lincoln Park as the game was called for more weather just before the end of regulation.

The Greyhounds will host third seed Mainland on Wednesday, May 5 in the regional semifinals.

(4) Fort Pierce Westwood 19, (5) John Carroll Catholic 7

A third quarter in which three interceptions by Fort Pierce Westwood's secondary including a pick-six from Jihla Greer lifted the Panthers to a comeback victory at Lawnwood Stadium.

The Rams (9-3) went ahead in the first quarter as Paige Lalicon and Lyndy Dempsey connected on a 40-yard touchdown pass and a successful Lalicon pass to Gabrielle Funderlich for the one-point conversion gave John Carroll a 7-0 lead they held at halftime.

Daynicha Celisca was the beneficiary of a tipped ball she hauled in for an interception that gave the Panthers (10-4) a short field they would cash in early in the third quarter.

Greer threw a short pass to Gerriyah Ruth to get Fort Pierce Westwood on the scoreboard and Greer hit Veslise Destile for the conversion that tied the game at 7-7.

On John Carroll's next drive, Celisca again came away with an interception off a deflection but the Rams made a stop on fourth down to momentarily halt the momentum.

Greer stepped in front of a short throw with John Carroll backed up deep in their own end zone and returned the interception 10 yards to give her team the lead.

In the fourth quarter, Greer again found Ruth in the end zone on a perfect throw to the back corner for the icing on the cake for Fort Pierce Westwood, who will get to host eighth seed Somerset Academy-Canyons, who knocked off top seed Wildwood in their quarterfinal Wednesday night.

Baseball

Jensen Beach 6, John Carroll Catholic 4: Connor Cantillo’s go-ahead, two-run triple with two outs in the top of the seventh helped the Falcons (16-6) score a comeback victory at cloverPark in Port St. Lucie.

Kaiden Jones added an RBI single to bring in Cantillo and Joseph Holland stranded runners at second nd third with one out by striking out the final two hitters preserving the win for Jensen Beach.

Jake Breen struck out eight in six innings, allowing three earned runs, Cantillo and Jones each had two-hit nights and combined to drive in five runs for the Falcons.

Taggert Cameron went 2-for-3 with an RBI, Anthony Ferraro had a double and an RBI and Colt Miller struck out three and allowed two unearned runs in four innings in the loss for the Rams (14-10).

Masters's Academy baseball duo off to the next level

Master’s Academy baseball’s Mihir Manerikar and Connor Callery celebrated the next step in their careers Wednesday as both will play college baseball next spring.

Manerikar will head to New York and play at D’Youville College after wrapping up his senior season for the Patriots.

A two-way standout thus far for Master’s Academy this season, Manerikar has a 3-0 record with a 1.20 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 35 innings on the mound and is batting .351 with eight doubles and 13 RBI at the plate.

Callery is off to North Dakota to play junior college ball at Williston State College after finishing up for the Patriots this season.

On the mound, Callery has a 4-1 record with a 2.44 ERA and has struck out 37 batters over 28⅔ innings on the year.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Vero boys lacrosse, Lincoln Park, Central, Westwood flag football advance in playoffs