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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 11, 2008

Plant's Givens Invited To Play In All-Star Game

Plant High baseball standout Mychal Givens picked up his second invitation to a prestigious high school all-star game.

Givens, a rising senior shortstop/right-handed pitcher, has been selected for the 2008 Under Armour High School All-America Game, Plant coach Dennis Braun said. The game, previously known as the Cape Cod High School Baseball Classic, will be held at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Aug. 17. It will be televised live on ESPNU.

Givens, a Tampa Tribune All-Hillsborough County first team selection as a junior, was previously selected for the Aflac All-American Classic, which will be played Aug. 9.

In other baseball news, two recent graduates are getting a chance to continue their careers. Gaither infielder/pitcher Sergio Delgado is headed to Hillsborough Community College, while Chamberlain catcher Mike Granda will play at Polk Community College.

WIDE OPEN JESUIT: The kings of the Power-I formation for many decades are looking to spread things out this season.

Jesuit High's football team implemented a new spread offense during spring workouts and saw some moderate success in their jamboree victory against Leto.

"Everybody else is doing it, so we thought we'd give it a try," Jesuit coach Joe Ross said.

Two players who will benefit from the new scheme are receiver Erick McGriff and tight end John Plasencia. Both are getting a lot of attention from Division I colleges.

McGriff, the son of former major-league baseball player Fred McGriff, has received offers from Arkansas, Auburn, Cincinnati, Kansas and Troy. Plasencia, who also plays defensive end, has offers from Air Force, Cincinnati, Northwestern, Syracuse, Tulane, Vanderbilt and Army.

Ross would like to continue developing and working on the scheme with some 7-on-7 work this summer. He'd like to invite schools to Jesuit's field for glorified scrimmage work. He said Alonso has expressed an interest in working out. Any teams interested can contact Ross at (813) 877-5344, ext. 250.

GOLF: Jesuit rising senior golfer Jack Twomey has been added to the North roster for the upcoming Junior Florida Cup, a Ryder Cup-style format matching the top 20 junior golfers from North Florida against the top 20 juniors from South Florida.

The event, scheduled for Aug. 13-14 at Palma Ceia Golf & Country Club in Tampa, will now have six golfers from Hillsborough County on the North roster. Boys golfers Doug Letson (Plant), Ian McConnell (Riverview) and former King standout Chris Biuso, who is headed to Louisville in the fall, were previously selected for the North squad, as were girls golfers Alex Milan (Sickles) and Amy West (Durant).

The North won the Cup last year by defeating the South 29-11.

RECRUITING: Armwood rising senior defensive lineman Ryne Giddins recently picked up a scholarship offer from Southern California. The Hawks standout holds more than 20 Division I scholarship offers, many from the nation's top programs. Giddins said he plans to trim the list to six between the end of June and early July.

Also, Durant rising senior offensive lineman Cole Gilliam picked up his first scholarship offer from Elon, a Football Championship Subdivision program, Coach Mike Gottman said. Gottman added linebacker Kevin Szczypinski, a recent graduate, will continue his career at Division II West Virginia Wesleyan.

Adam Adkins, Katherine Smith

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