By Gary Curreri

Christian Osornio and Daniel Silveria collected multiple hits to lead the offensive charge, while Roman Odiernia blasted a two run home run to deep left field in the third inning as the Deerfield Beach Little League’s 50/70 team jumped out to an early lead and then held on for an 8-5 win over host Federal recently.

Osornio started on the mound for Deerfield Beach and tossed two innings of one-hit, one-run ball. He also struck out three and walked one as the local squad built an early 6-1 lead in the interleague contest.

Robert Odiernia and Alex Riveria pitched the middle of the game and gave way to closer Ryan Jarrett, who sealed the deal as he yielded no hits and no walks while striking out four and allowed 0 runs in 2.1 innings of work. 

Others contributing to the 10 hits for DBLL were Caleb Wahlers, Jarrett, both Odiernia boys, Donovan Campbell and Anthony Fronte. Federal was only able to manage three hits in the game.

Golf Course closes for reconstruction of new greens

The city of Pompano Beach has temporarily closed the Greg Norman Signature Golf Course for the renovation of their putting greens.

The Pines Course, located at 1101 N. Federal Hwy., is one of two courses located at the city’s public golf course. The second course, the Palms Course, will remain open during the reconstruction.

The re-grassing of the Pines Golf Course putting greens will provide a much-improved turf surface. Platinum Paspalm turf has been chosen based on the conditions at this facility. The city has been testing the Paspalm turf on four greens over the past year which has proven to be highly successful.

The process of re-grassing involves many steps, including applying herbicide in order to aid in the removal of the existing turf, applying soil amendments, frequent rolling of surfaces to develop a consistent turf stand, aerification, installation of the premium sod, etc.

The Greg Norman Design Pines Golf Course is tentatively scheduled to re-open by the end of June weather permitting.

Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association results

The Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association held a One Best Ball of a Foursome tournament at the Pines Course and the group of Henry Lesburt, Bill O’Brien, Robert Raser and Tom Breur (blind draw) carded a 51 to win top honors.

Tom Breur, Bob Mascatello, Lance Naiman and Dave Hall (blind draw) shot a 53 and won on a match of cards with the third place team of Richard Anderson, George Duarte, Carlo Spirito and Bart Valerio. Finishing in fourth was Jim DeCicco, Jim Dunn (blind draw), Gary Gill and Richard Plasky with a 55. Frank Cutrone, Bill McCormick, Paul Murphy and Gene Stoller shot a 56 to finish fifth.  The closest to the pin winner on the third hole was Pat McClain.

The Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association followed that tournament up with another contest – Two Best Ball of Foursome at the Pines Course.

Paul Berning, Joe Patchen, Richard Plasky and Bob VanZandt carded a 117 to take first place. Placing second after a match of cards was Jim Blake, Frank Cutrone, Lee Hammer and Bill Sincavage, who shot 118. Andy Burt, Jim Dunn, Dave Hall and Harlan Tyler (blind draw) finished third with a 118.

Henry Lesburt, Bob Mascatello, Jay Thorn and Tom Joyce (blind draw) were fourth after shooting 120 and won on a match of cards. Jim Foster, Bill Hadersbeck, Mike Katawczik and Tim O’Brien finished fifth. Winning the closest to the pin contest on the seventh hole was Jerry Goodman.

Pompano Beach Women’s Golf Association results

The Pompano Beach Women’s Golf Association held a One Best Ball Even Holes, Two Best Balls Odd Holes tournament and the team of Sue Bardhi, Vonnie Okeefe, Nancy Oshea and Patti Matera (blind draw) won with an 86. Finishing second, just three shots back with an 89, was the team of Abby Ages, Deanne Baumann, Dianne Levanti and Anita Macmichael.

By Gary Curreri

The annual tradition of face painting, hot dogs and various contests, including a home run derby helped kickoff opening day for the Deerfield Beach Little League on Saturday. 

“We’ve been in this fine city for 62 years,” gushed Deerfield Beach Little League President Jason Siracusa. “This is our second season with a new board of directors and we are looking forward to an even better year this season.”

Siracusa said the difference between last year and this year is that they are coming off a championship season. He would know firsthand as last season, Siracusa coached the Junior Division team to the state finals where they finished runner-up.

“Our league has grown since last year and our registrations are up,” said Siracusa, who said there are now 20 teams in the program. “Our sponsorships are up and we have a lot of new families, especially in the younger divisions which is really the future of our league. 

There are approximately 250 players in the league, from ages 4 to 16, Siracusa said opening day was a success. There was a tug of war between coaches and players, a cornhole competition, home run derby, fast pitch and a “triathlon” which consisted of hitting, throwing and running for the younger age groups.

“It was a great day,” Siracusa said. “We had a couple of more events. “The mayor and a couple of city commissioners were here and this was really about bringing everybody together for one time without any baseball, without any games going on. It just gave everybody a chance to get to know each other.

“We had our competitions, a BBQ and then off we go, the season starts,” Siracusa added. “This year was a lot easier than last year. We’ve embraced technology. We built a good foundation last season and we are more streamlined this season, financially and structurally. Building on that, we did a lot of online registrations. We have apps for the managers to help keep track of their teams to communicate with their teams and it makes it a better experience for everybody.”

 Siracusa said the top goals for the program this season is more championships, competitive baseball through both the city’s games and interleague play with neighboring communities in both the junior and 50/70 divisions. The league will consist of T-Ball, Coach-Pitch, Majors, 50/70, Junior and the Seniors, which will begin play in May after the high school season. Siracusa said running the program takes a lot of work and he credited the effort of the volunteers for keeping them on track.

“We didn’t get in all of our uniforms until yesterday,” Siracusa said. “We changed our uniforms this year too. The uniforms are brighter and they seem to be a bit more fun. We have the kid’s names on the back and we have Deerfield Beach in large letters on the front so everywhere we go, we are representing our city. We wanted to make sure we put out a good vibe from our city. 

Angel Davober, 9, of Pompano Beach, a Cresthaven School third grader, said he has played the sport since he was 4.  

“It’s fun and cool because you get to play a lot of different positions,” said Davober, who plays third base, second base and outfield. “I like playing third base the most. Today was awesome because you got to do a lot of different things.”

Deerfield Beach’s Neile Thomas, 14, of Deerfield Beach, has played in the league since he was 6. 

“There is a lot of good stuff to like about the league,” said Thomas, a Pompano Beach High School freshman, “It is very family oriented. The coaches put their players’ safety before winning, but we win too.”

Thomas was a member of the state runner-up Junior Division team a season ago.

“It’s pretty cool to get your name on a banner because you can come back in a couple of years and people you know you can say, ‘I was on that team,’” Thomas said. “On a scale from 1 to 10, that was like an 11. Going to a state tournament was like one of the coolest things I have ever done. Hopefully, this year we will go to states again and win it this year.”