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Community School of Naples opens the season with an away game at Lely high school on Feb 15 at 7 pm to start the 2011 season. Community School of Naples announced the hiring of their new head coach Joe Cali in September of 2010. Mr. Cali played in the majors with the Indians for a few seasons, he starred in college for Florida Atlantic university, and is also a local star graduating from Naples high. He is a well known pitching coach and this will be his first high school coaching job. The Seahawks are stacked once again this year and are favorites to three peat the division title. With the return of senior Danny Brown(right handed pitcher) who has officially committed to Flagler college and returning junior Nicky Locascio (Right handed pitcher) 2012 the Seahawks are favored to repeat as district champions for the third straight year and are ranked eight in the state of Florida (2a) Last season the Seahawks wrapped up the district title by beating Evangelical Christian High School in a tightly contested battle in which Danny Brown pitched a gem of a game and the timely hitting of Charlie Jauss and Oliver Rogers proved to be the winning runs. The semifinal game was thrown by Nicky Locascio who shutdown the hard hitting St John Neuman High School squad. The cross town rivals are slated to give the Seahawks a run for their money this year. The Celtics of St John have four returning seniors and a new head coach in Mat Ross who has them traveling together all summer long and playing in the toughest tournaments competing against the best travel teams in the state. The Seahawks play them twice this year in the regular season. The first game against the Irish of Neuman will be held at Community School of Naples and will be held on March 17 which happens to be on St Patrick’s day. The second showdown between these crosstown rivals will be held at St John Neuman on April 8th at 4 PM. These two games are not to be missed for they are always entertaining and everyone knows they are just a warm-up for the playoffs. Community School has 2 games against the winners of the north division Evangelical Christian School of Fort Meyers. THE Two games against the northern champs are slated for Tuesday March 22 nd and Friday April first. These 2 games and the two against the Celtics of St.John are circled on coach Cali schedule. These two teams are a priority in the regular season and the district tournament for the 2011 season. The Seahawks also play the tough Palmetto Ridge Bears twice this year. The perennial (5a) powerhouse club always has a great pitching staff and this year is no different, with returning senior Matt Picucci as their ace. These 2 games will be tough wins for the (2a) Seahawks of Community School. Coach Cali hopes that by playing 5a teams like Palmetto Ridge HS, the Hawks will rise up to the best they can be. Having a tough regular season schedule has worked in the past for the Seahawks. With many of the returning players tasting a sip from the district championship cup twice in the past two years, coach Cali has a seasoned club that knows how to thrive in the playoffs and win when they it they have to. The returning champions are led by pitchers Danny Brown (senior and Flagler College recruit) also right handed pitcher Nicky Locascio (2012) these two veterans are the aces of the squad and between them have the lowest ERA s in Community School history. Seahawk pitching runs deep this year with Gage Ott a two time champion himself as a returning junior to the mound this year. With wicked breaking balls Gage figures on being instrumental out of the bullpen this year in shutting teams for important wins. The pitching squad gets another returning junior in Matt Meyers (2012) whose size and strength make him a force to contend with on the mound. The return of junior Tommy Killonoski who was one of the top closers in 2010 and had some impressive starts for the Hawks last season, the pitching squad has the veteran arms it needs to win the big games. With the addition of newcomers Will Jauss the bullpen looks solid. The defense is led by two time champion Nick Ott, who manages this fine pitching staff from behind the plate. In center field we have the returning senior Chris Bussing whose speed makes him a dangerous base runner too. Neil Defoce will also be a force to reckon with when he joins the team. On offense the Seahawk hitters will better than ever, when the squad takes the field in February. Leading off will be the toughest out on the team, Danny Brown then the speedy Mike Shoeler whose base running skills make him a double threat, Mike is recovering from multiple football related injuries, but he will no doubt be ready for action when that first pitch is thrown in February. Hitting third will be Nick Ott who no doubt has gotten more powerful at the plate. The cleanup spot will be held down by the power hitting Nicky Locascio whose hitting skills and prowess at bat get better each year. Matt Meyers who strength could make him another power hitter in the lineup and the addition of freshman Drew Tomani who has the talent to make an impact for this veteran squad the offense looks poised for another high scoring season. The schedule the Community School is up against has helped the team in winning 2 district titles in the past two seasons. Whether it was pitching, batting, or fielding the Sehawks of Community School will no doubt be a force to be reckoned with in the (2 a) division and have their sites set on a state championship come May.
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