RYAN YABLON DELIVERS EXTRA-INNINGS BOMB FOR MARATHON

Coral Shores’ Xavyer Arrington has his sights set on a second state title. MIKKEL

Five Keys Weightlifters Qualify For States

On April 5, Coral Shores and Marathon sent their qualifying strongmen to Frostproof to compete with the best in FHSAA’s 1A Region 4. And on April 14, four Hurricanes and a lone Dolphin will travel to Lakeland to represent the Keys against the best in the state.

The Hurricanes brought home the runner-up trophy in Olympic style lifting and third-place honors in traditional, with multiple individual champions. Xavyer Arrrington will look to earn a second state championship in his division after winning the regional championships in both Olympic and traditional style lifting. He is ranked first in his division heading into states. Arrington won last year’s snatch competition, which was rolled into the Olympic category for 2023. He matched his state-winning 235-pound snatch at regionals and improved his bench and clean and jerk lifts by 20 and 45 pounds, respectively.

Julian Juvier destroyed the competition in his weight category at regionals, bringing home first-place medals in both lifting styles. Juvier is ranked first in both categories at the state level and leads his closest competitor by 15 pounds in Olympic lifting and 20 in traditional.

Joining Arrington and Juvier in Lakeland will be AJ Johnson and Dantay Diorio. Johnson won the first-place medal in his weight class in Olympic lifting, giving him an automatic bid to states. Diorio was second in his class at regionals, but his scores were high enough to send him to the state meet with an at-large bid.

The final Keys competitor earning a spot on the state qualifier sheet was Marathon’s Thomas Eubank in the traditional event. Eubank was third in the highly-competitive region, earning him an at-large spot at the big meet.

Conch baseball hangs on to top rank in 4A with playoffs approaching

Key West hosted the Tigers of Palmetto on April 7-8. In game one, Anden Rady went 3 for 3 at the plate, earning a single, double and triple with three of the Conchs’ four hits. Gabe Williams earned the final hit of the 3-0 win. Andris Barroso threw for six innings, earning the W for Key West, and Jacob Burnham gave him an inning of relief in the game.

The following day, the Conchs collected multiple hits from Jack Haggard, Matt Greenberg, Sam Holland, Jose Perdigon, Williams and Rady while Wyatt Kuhn added a base hit to make it 13 for Key West. Felix Ong earned the win for the Conchs, throwing six innings against the Tigers, and Marlin Takovich closed it out to give Key West a solid 15-4 record with seven games left in the regular season. Key West is holding on to the top spot in the FHSAA 4A rankings with district action beginning May 1.

Marathon had a mixed bag last week, losing to Highlands Christian on April 3 before defeating Palmer Trinity on April 5 and earning a win via forfeit from Everglades Prep on April 7. In the loss against Highlands, Gabe Leal, Gavin Leal and Ryan Yablon each had a base hit. Yablon went the distance on the mound for the Dolphins, striking out eight in the game.

Two nights later, Yablon registered two hits, one a home run, in a game that would need an eighth inning to decide a victor. Gabe Leal also had a pair of hits and Gavin Leal, Micah Sauders and Dylan Globe each had base hits in the win. Dylan Ziels and Bryan Broche teamed up on the mound for Marathon as Broche was awarded the win. The Fins’ record stands at 11 wins and 5 losses.

Marathon’s Ryan Yablon hit a home run to help secure a victory against Palmer Trinity on April 5. BARRY GAUKEL/Keys Weekly

Coral Shores suffered two losses, bringing its record to 4-11 on the season. They played at Chaminade-Madonna on April 4, losing 10-0. Maykol Bonito-Rodriguez registered the only hit for the ’Canes against the Lions. On April 7, the result would be closer but not quite close enough for a win against Keys Gate in an 11-7 loss.

By: Tracy and Sean McDonald