Panhandle Sports

It took a lot of hard work, and a will to win, but earlier this month, Franklin County’s 8-and-under AA boys All-Star team became only the second boys ballclub in that age group from the county to win the Dixie Youth Baseball state title. That means they’ll be representing Florida against 10 other state champs…

The county’s Ozone team, for boys ages 11 and 12, will be headed to the state tournament Saturday in Avon Park, near Sebring. The team, under the direction of Coach Matthew Roberts and assistants Miles King and Jonathan Brown. The team defeated Wewa at districts, but fell 7-6 in extra innings to Port St. Joe….

They fought through rain, and delays, but the county’s 10-and-under softball girls, the Angels made a clean sweep of districts and now are on their way to the state tournament next month. Under the direction of head coach Michael Dasher,  Jr. and assistant coaches Thorne Wheeler and Buck Melvin, the Angels bested the competition at…

As Tom Hanks said in the 1992 baseball comedy “A League of Their Own,” there’s no crying in baseball. But at the June 8 Seahawks baseball banquet at the Carrabelle Christian Center, there were plenty of tears, of joy and gratitude, as players and family and boosters of the Franklin County High School baseball program…

They didn’t win it all, but with a Final Four appearance, and a loss to the eventual Class 1A state champion, it was a pretty darn good year. Coach Ray Bailey celebrated the Seahawks’ 20-8 season, and district and regional titles, with a banquet at the high school May 31. Named as Offensive Player of…

It was a great year for Franklin County softball, with a 19-9 record and a sixth-place ranking in Florida Class 1A, and the team celebrated it May 31 with a banquet at St. James Bay. Dining on fried fish and shrimp, and all the trimmings, the middle school, junior varsity and varsity teams and their…

Seahawks coach Kevin Cox is out as baseball coach. In a low key announcement last week from Superintendent Steve Lanier’s office, the district administration announced Cox would not be returning as head coach for the 2023-24 school year.  “I would like to thank Coach Cox for this time as our head baseball coach,” wrote Lanier….

Seahawks coach John Cooper is demanding a physical style of football from his players, and so far, during spring football, he’s getting it. “Ever since the first week of February, we’ve been working on a weight room culture that’s been nonexistent,” he said. “We’re working on creating a physical ballclub, a physical brand that’s been…

It will take Leanne and Timmy Poloronis about 18 hours to drive from Apalachicola to Decorah, Iowa, a small college town near the Minnesota border, to watch their son play college basketball. It’s taken Owen Poloronis about 18 years to get there. The leading scorer on this past season’s Class 1A Final Four basketball team,…