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Team's Success Strikes Home In Citrus Park

Tribune photo by KELVIN MA

Citrus Park's Ryan, left, and Austin McCullers, fraternal twin brothers, are introduced at the league's going-away party.

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By B.C. MANION

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 12, 2008

CITRUS PARK - It took a regional shopping mall to put this once-sleepy community on the map, and now a Little League team is drawing attention to it again - but this time on a much broader scale.

"Nobody even knew where Citrus Park was, and then they put the mall in and now everybody knows where Citrus Park is," said 77-year-old Sunny Boleman, a lifelong resident of the community.

There wasn't much beyond woods and palmettos in the community's early days, Boleman said. The site where First Baptist Church of Citrus Park sits was a big stand of pines and the only nearby store was Spivey's Corner, at Ehrlich Road and Gunn Highway.

Cheryl Pulley, who has lived in the original 70-block township tucked behind Ehrlich Road for nearly three decades, recalls when kids used to swim in a lake behind an orange grove. That grove is now the site of Sickles High School.

She also remembers a much less busy Gunn Highway, when just about the only people driving it either lived nearby or were lost.

Now, Boleman, Pulley and others around Citrus Park are cheering players for the Citrus Park Little League, who are scheduled to leave this morning to compete at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

Players and team parents are getting revved up.

"It's exciting," said 12-year-old Wyatt Reid, who had two home runs and seven RBIs in Friday's game to clinch a spot in the series. "You get to play on TV every day."

"It's so exciting. I can't even explain it with words," 12-year-old Brett Wilkosz said.

He exudes a quiet confidence about the team's chances. "Our motto since we were 9 is 'Humble and Hungry.' So, as long as we stay humble and keep a good head on our shoulders, we'll be fine."

Twelve-year-old Darren Miller said much of the team's success comes from its good chemistry.

Danny Lastra, also 12, agreed: "I'm very proud of our team. I love every kid on this team. They're all great friends."

Dedication has had a role, too, said Michael McGuire, 13. "Our practices were really hot and hard, but all of the work paid off."

Steve Miller, a team dad, said he doesn't think it has sunk in with the players yet what a really big deal this is.

"It's the equivalent to winning the lottery for a 12-year-old kid," Miller said. "I'm not sure the exact numbers, but there's probably 3,000 Little League teams in the United States and only eight of them will be playing. Sixteen from around the world."

Another team parent, Stacie McCullers, said, "It's a little bit surreal right now. "I'm not sure any of us really will feel the full effect until we actually get there."

Members of the community came out to a send-off party Monday night to support the team.

They also came to help out team families, who are expected to spend about $5,000 each in travel expenses to cheer on the team.

Lots of people dropped donations into a bucket on a picnic table. There were loads of $1s, but also quite a few $5s, a sprinkling of $10s and $20s and at least one $50 and a $100. There were checks in the bucket, too, in various denominations, including one for $300.

The Tampa Bay Rays showed up, too, pitching in $2,500 to help cover the parents' costs.

Parents also collected donations at a few spots across the community.

"I have just been blown away by the people's generosity," Bob Wilkosz said. "They're saying, 'I saw you guys on TV. Keep it up. Win it all for us.' "

The team is drawing support from across Citrus Park.

Lori Drury, the principal's secretary at the new Sgt. Paul Smith Middle School in Citrus Park, said she can't wait to watch the games on TV.

"I watch the Little League World Series anyway, so now to have a personal connection makes it a lot more fun. Usually I root for the underdog. Now, I can root for the team I think is going to win it."

She thinks the whole community is proud.

"If we had a marquee. It'd be up on the marquee for us," she said.

The Rev. Lee Jackson, who oversees the Faith Family Worship Center, at 14514 Del Valle Road, has done his bit to spread the word about the team's success.

"I told some of the congregation at the fellowship dinner on Sunday evening," he said. "They were thrilled."

Over the years, the Little League has been a mainstay for families, said Sue Pagano, who lives in Lake Maurine, a Citrus Park neighborhood.

"If you live in Citrus Park and you raise kids here, this is a wonderful, wonderful place," she said. "It's a generational thing."

Peter Otero, who lives at 7330 Manhattan Drive, recalls when the Little League field opened more than 40 years ago.

"It was just a ball field. A couple of bleachers. No fence. No nothing," the 80-year-old said.

The improvements at the ballpark are just one of the changes the lifelong resident has seen in his community.

He was there before Sickles High was built, before the Veterans Expressway was built, before the Westfield Citrus Park shopping mall went up.

"When I was in sixth grade at Citrus Park Elementary, for six grades, there were 28 students," Otero said.

Otero isn't thrilled by all of the change his community has experienced. The growth has come at a price, he said. "I don't even know my next-door neighbor. I wish it was just country."

But Otero is delighted for the Little League team.

"I think it's great - anything to put a little light on Citrus Park."

Reporter B.C. Manion can be reached at (813) 865-1507 or bmanion@tampatrib.com.

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