By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach Little League President Jason Siracusa always believed his Senior All-Star team could advance to the state tournament. And they did not disappoint. The Deerfield Beach Little League Senior All-Stars defeated both Coral Springs and defending state champion North Springs to win the District 10 tournament and advance to Florida State Championship tournament. 

The Little League District 10 Seniors All-Star tournament at the Deerfield Beach Middle School Athletic Complex with North Springs topped Coral Springs, 8-1. Deerfield Beach then withstood numerous distractions lasting four hours, including a lightning delay to pull out a 10-inning, 7-6 win.

With Coral Springs and North Springs squaring off in the loser’s bracket game, Coral Springs got off to a strong start and pulled out a 12-3 win to advance to the final against Deerfield Beach.

After giving up one run in the top of the first inning, Deerfield Beach came out swinging and never looked back. Deerfield Beach put up 12 runs on 13 hits and handily won the game 12-5 sending the very talented squad to the Florida State Senior Division Little League championship in Lakewood Ranch from July 5-7. 

The majority of the Deerfield team played together in the Juniors Division last season where they went 13-1, winning their district championship and finishing second overall in the state of Florida.

At this year’s state tournament, Deerfield Beach overcame a rain delay and defeated St. Cloud, 4-1. The local squad then dropped its next two contests to finish pool play, 1-2.

Deerfield Beach lost to Hancock American, 14-2 and then fell to Land O’Lakes, 3-1. Land O’Lakes went on to win the state title with an 11-3 win over previously unbeaten San Mateo. Against Hancock American, Deerfield fell behind early and couldn’t recover. When Hancock defeated St. Cloud, it finished 2-1 in pool play and ended Deerfield Beach’s hopes of advancing to the championship round.

Deerfield Beach still turned in a solid performance in defeat against the eventual state champion. Deerfield Beach pitcher Brock Buerosse tossed a complete game and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits, but it wasn’t enough as Deerfield’s bats were virtually silent scoring 1 run on just 3 hits.

“This is the second year in a row Deerfield has sent a team to the state tournament,” Siracusa said. “We have made some improvements over last year’s (team) but left our core intact.

“But the competition at the state level is pretty fierce,” he added. “As one of the younger teams in the tournament, Deerfield held up against teams that were comprised of 16-year-old high school varsity players. Our team was made up of 16 players. Everyone had a role and when called upon they performed the way we expected. I’m proud of every single one of them.”

By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach’s Janelle Calvet could be considered a Swiss army knife for the Somerset Keys High School baseball team. The 14-year-old freshman, who plays in the Deerfield Beach Little League Senior League team, recently completed her first year on the high school program as one of their bright spots. She played shortstop, catcher and even pitched some games to help the Lions finish 4-5 in their inaugural season.

“It was fun,” Calvet said. “I was very accepted (by the boys). Everybody treated me the same and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed playing.”

She said there wasn’t much of an adjustment because she played with players that also play Little League with her. There were a couple of girls that we played against.

“It was everything I expected and I am definitely going to do it again,” added Calvet, who also plays for the GTB (Girls Travel Baseball) program that plays in tournaments throughout the country. Their last event was an International Tournament in West Palm Beach last November.

Two years ago, she was among a group of girls from South Florida who were flown out to California to compete in the inaugural ‘Trailblazer Series,’ a first-of-its-kind girls baseball tournament.

The event at the MLB Youth Academy in Compton, CA took place in conjunction with Jackie Robinson Day. It attracted a total of approximately 100 girls, ages 16 and under, representing 20 states across the country as well as Washington D.C. and Canada.

Calvet still has aspirations of playing Major League Baseball. In March, she was a part of MLB Grit, an inaugural high school invitational event designed specifically for 60 girls who play baseball.

It was held in Dallas, Texas. Calvert said she was able to meet members of the United States Women’s National Baseball Team and some professional players.”

“I absolutely want to play in the MLB,” she said. “It is going to take a lot of hard work.”

Calvet, who is the lone girl playing in the Senior Division of the Deerfield Beach Little League, said the ‘A League of Their Own’ movie inspired her to play baseball. When she went to California, two of the original members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1949-51) were in attendance and Calvet got to meet them.

“The most memorable thing going out there was meeting Maybelle Blair and Shirley Burkovich because it all started with them,” said Calvet following her trip at the time.

“I had her pitching and playing shortstop for us,” said Somerset Keys baseball coach Joe Silvia. “She was a force to be reckoned with. I’ll be honest. I had her batting second and she would get on (base), steal second and third and score.”

“She was one of my heavy hitters,” he added. “It’s great having her on the team. It’s different having a girl on the team. You worry about her not hurting her arm. We do long toss, quick hands, and all of these drills.”

Calvet finished the season with a batting average of .444 and Silvia said she averaged at least two walks per game this season. She had 10 RBIs to go along with her 8 runs scored. She pitched, played shortstop and also caught the last few games of the season. Every practice, he would talk to her.

“I always went up to her and said, ‘how’s the arm? Are you good?’” Silvia said. “I pitched her in some of our games. She is the real deal. We started to practice, and she was running with the guys…taking batting practice and throwing and I was like, ‘ok, what’s going on here?’” If I had nine of her, we’d be undefeated.”

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.”

By Gary Curreri

The Deerfield Little League Junior Division Mets squad finished runner-up in the state tournament in Tallahassee.

The local squad opened with a 7-0 loss against the South Beaches and needed to win both games of a doubleheader to reach the title game.

“My pre-game pep talk was focused, not on the failures of our last game, but on reminding the team how we got here, how well we played all season, how we crushed most of our opponents, and how much fun we had along the way,” said Deerfield Beach manager Jason Siracusa, who is also the president of the Deerfield Beach Little League. “Once I started seeing the smiles slowly appearing on their faces, I knew we were going to have a good day.”

Deerfield Beach responded following a five-hour rain delay with a 2-0 win over the defending state champion South Fort Myers team behind RBIs from Sanders Chartier and Keanu Siracusa and a 12-8 victory over South Lakes to advance to the title game.

“We opened up a lead against South Lakes and although our pitchers began to struggle and gave up the lead we didn’t panic because we knew we had the momentum,” Siracusa said. “We were hitting really well so my confidence in our team was high. We took the lead back for good and after 13 hours of warm up, play, rain delays and more play this group of kids left the field tired, wet and muddy with a pair of wins and a trip to the championship game.”

Chartier had 2 hits and 3 RBIs, and Thomas had 2 hits and 2 RBIs, while Brock Buerosse had 2 RBIs. Lorenzo Feliciano, Keanu Siracusa, Dawson Lallance, Maxwell Thomson and Janelle Calvet each had an RBI as well. Gio Caffro, Lallance, Thomson, Calvet, and Kyle Adams each were outstanding on the mound for the Mets during the tournament.

Deerfield Beach then ran into juggernaut Inverness, who took apart the local team in an 18-0 win. It was the fourth straight double-digit win by Inverness in the tournament. In fact, Inverness won all three games in their pool and the championship without giving up a single run.

The lone bright spot for the Mets in the title game was a single by Thomas in the second inning.

“Unfortunately, it seems that, for the championship game, these kids were simply worn out,” Siracusa added. “We struggled in the field and at the plate and just couldn’t catch up to Inverness who had a very impressive team.”

Siracusa also cited the performance of Feliciano, who was taken to the emergency room Friday morning due to complications from his diabetes and placed in intensive care before being released Saturday.

“Although we could see he was struggling, he played both games of the doubleheader, had a great night at the plate and in the outfield and even pitched in the championship game Sunday,” Siracusa said. “All heart, he looked tired and worn out, but there was no way he was sitting this out. He’s a warrior.”

Former Ely great— Moss passes away

The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled that former star Blanche Ely running back Tyrone Moss died from heart failure last week.

Moss, who also starred at the University of Miami, died at the age of 33. The report from the medical examiner said Moss had hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and obesity, and was admitted July 23 to Memorial Hospital West for a procedure for his heart.

Moss also had congestive heart failure and while he was at the Pembroke Pines Hospital, a cardiac catheter was inserted on July 25. He was given a LifeVest, an external defibrillator that can detect irregular heartbeats and provide a shock to the patient.

The report said as Moss was leaving the hospital and waiting for his ride the night of July 26, he passed out. He was brought into the emergency room where he had a “cardiac event” and hospital staff was unable to revive him.

The 2003 Blanche Ely graduate rushed for a Broward County record 7,105 yards during his high school career and led the Tigers to a state title in his junior year.

Moss went on to star for the Hurricanes in college from 2003-2006, where he had seven 100-yard games, putting him 10th on the team’s all-time list.

By Gary Curreri

Host Deerfield Beach rallied from an early 5-0 deficit to pull out a 10-9 victory over Ft. Lauderdale and capture the District 10 Little League Junior Division Championship last week.

The Deerfield Beach Mets started their comeback with two runs in the bottom of the third and added four runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-5 lead as Lorenzo Feliciano, Brock Buerosse, and Janelle Calvet all contributed in the big inning with RBIs.

After Deerfield added another run in the bottom of the fifth, Ft. Lauderdale rallied to take a 9-7 lead in the top of the six with four runs. Undaunted, the Mets pulled ahead for good, scoring three runs of their own and Feliciano broke the 9-9 deadlock with a fielder’s choice that scored Maxwell Thompson from third with what proved to be the winning run.

“It’s my first championship and it is really cool,” said Deerfield Beach Little League Junior Division manager Jason Siracusa, who also took over this year as the league president. This is his third year as an All-Star manager.

“It was like a six day a week, seven day a week ordeal between coaching a team, running the league, and also coaching T-Ball, I was all over the place.”

“In the end, it was worth it,” Siracusa said. “We made a lot of changes to the league and the league is shaping up and ending the year with a championship is pretty special.”

Calvet, who went 3 for 4 at the plate and threw out a runner stealing second to get the first out in the top of the seventh (her cousin is Colin Calvet), plays on an all-girls travel baseball team in addition to the All-Stars. Buerosse had two hits and a walk for Deerfield Beach.

Keanu Siracusa went 4-1/3 innings and allowed five runs – just two earned – on two hits while striking out seven for the Mets. Gio Caffro and Neile Thomas came on in relief and closed the door on the Indians to win the championship.

Manager Siracusa said the Junior Division tournament featured teams from Deerfield Beach, Parkland, Coral Springs and Ft. Lauderdale. Deerfield Beach had 12 players on its roster but played the final with just nine players due to conflicts.

Deerfield Beach opened district play with a 1-0, extra-inning win over Ft. Lauderdale and then cruised past Coral Springs American, 12-2, before falling 7-4 to Ft. Lauderdale to set up the winner take all matchup last Friday night.

“We had better depth in pitching,” Siracusa said. “It was really an across the board team effort.”

“ We had a team of players that have played together for several years and they all back each other up,” Siracusa added. “They have a want-to-win mentality. We dominated the league this year going 13-1 with the only loss to Ft. Lauderdale 13-1. We outscored our opponents, 179-24. Our pitching super dominated everyone. Obviously, it can’t get any better than this. From here on, the rest is icing on the cake.”

Deerfield Beach will next play in the Sectional competition on July 20 in Tallahassee.

By Gary Curreri

Melcher Feliciano Jr. said the key to winning games in the District 10 Little League baseball playoffs is how you fare on the mound.

“You have to have five to seven pitchers,” said Feliciano Jr., who is the manager of the Deerfield Beach Little League Senior All-Star team. “Most of the guys can play all of the positions, but it’s very tough if you don’t have a lot of pitchers and catchers. It comes down to pitching.”

Deerfield Beach opened the Senior Division playoffs with an 8-1 setback against host North Springs Little League at North Community Park in Coral Springs. Shane Garner scored the lone run off a base hit from Anthony Davilla. North Springs won the United States National Championship last year in the Senior Division.

Feliciano Jr., who coached the Deerfield Beach Little League 50/70 team last year, said there is an adjustment between coaching the younger players and the Senior Division squad.

The Deerfield Beach Little League program features a little more than a dozen teams and just two teams in the Senior Division. In addition to playing each other, they also played against other area programs.

“Obviously we are trying to get a win in every game we play,” Feliciano Jr. said. There are five teams from the local league playing in the All-Star competition in the various divisions. “We spend a lot of time at practice working on communication and other things. Sometimes it’s very difficult because the kids can’t make the practice or something comes up at the last minute. We ended our season just one week before the All-Stars and that is a lot to go through in a week.”

Feliciano Jr. said they selected the best players from the two Senior Division teams in the Deerfield Beach Little League.

“The best ones make the cut,” Feliciano Jr. said. “We are trying to win the whole series and go to sectionals and make it to states.”

Feliciano Jr. said the speed of the game is a little quicker with the 50/70s because the bases are closer and the mound is closer.

“The ball comes faster to you in the field and the pitches are faster and you have to adjust to that,” Feliciano Jr. said. “With the Senior Division, the ball is pitched faster than the 50/70s, so I will throw mostly fastballs when I pitch batting practice. I will also hit the ball harder to the infield. We will also go (practice) four times a week.”

He said he would push the 50/70s as well.

“Sometimes I try and push them a little harder,” Feliciano Jr. said. “You can’t baby them. They get that feeling when they get to the next level, I don’t want them to crash and say, ‘I can’t do this anymore because it is too hard or too fast for me.’ I try and do the same thing with the seniors, the same method, and make it competitive.”

When Feliciano Jr. and his squad walked in the gate at North Community Park, they passed the national championship banner from 2017. He said it was not intimidating.

“This is a challenge for us,” Feliciano Jr. said. “I liked the kids’ attitude, work ethic and how they treat their teammates. They show good sportsmanship. There is nothing negative, and everything is positive.”

By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach Little League President Kathleen Williams was pleased with her program’s postseason results in the District 10 All-Star competition as the 50/70, Junior and Senior Division squads all finished as runner-up in the District 10 All-Star competition.

“The Deerfield Beach Little League is in their 60th year and still going strong,” Williams said. “This is the first time in 10 years that our 9/10s have gone more than two games in the district playoffs, so that shows growth.”

Deerfield Beach 9/10 manager Warren Fronte knew from the start that his group had a chance to reach the title game against North Springs; and, despite the defeat, he said the team battled during postseason play.

“Listen, they haven’t won anything in 13 years so to bring this to five wins and second place, we are more than happy,” Fronte said. “We are more than ecstatic. These kids are all champions in my book.”

“From Day 1, right from the get go, these kids put their hearts out and dominated our first team 25-8 and it was totally amazing,” Fronte said. “It was like, wow, we got a team.”

Selections of the 8-9-10 and 9-10-11 Deerfield Beach Little League All-Star teams came from eight teams in the league to pick from.

“It was a little tough with what we had to play with, but we got us some winners,” Fronte said.

“There will be lasting memories for the group,” Fronte noted.

“Hopefully, they learned to be a professional player as far as their age league goes,” Fronte said. “Hopefully, their parents see it the same. These are players. They are not just little kids playing little league. They are athletes.

“You could tell right off the bat which children pushed themselves to the max and a lot of them have,” he concluded. “They have their teammates backing them up and pushing them the rest of the way.”

The Deerfield Beach Little League fielded 25 teams during the regular season this year and 270 players.

“We limited the teams to 11 players so everybody got more playing time,” Williams said. “Next year, we are discussing going back to the Major Division, instead of just the 50/70 Division.”

In the in-house divisions, the River Bandits won the Farm Division; the White Caps won the Minor Division; Cubs won the 50/70 Division and Mets won the Junior Division.

Brown wins PBMGA Tourney

Chuck Brown carded a 65 and won a match of cards to take the Class A Division title in the Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association tournament on the Pines Course at Pompano Beach Golf Course on July 12.

Brown was closest to the pin on the 15th hole when his tee shot wound up 12 ft., 11 in. from the hole.

Jim DeCicco, who also shot a net 65, was second in the Individual Class Play, while Tom Breur shot a 69 and won on a match of cards for that spot. In the Class B Division, Joe Patchen won with a 66, while Scott Feinman shot a 70 for second place and George Torres carded a 72 for third.

Richard Bell edged Dave Dowling by one shot in winning the Class C Division with a 68, while Bob Bridgman had a 71 for third.