We rely on coaches and MaxPreps to help us with our weekly Huddle, but anyone who sees anything great that we need to include, jump on in and email us jcotey@tampabeacon.com.
Fantastic four power poll
1. Isabella McFarlane
The King junior, who is the first female wrestling champion from Hillsborough County, is still just scratching the surface of her massive potential. Olympics, anyone? Besides, I’m certainly not going to deny someone the No. 1 spot who can beat me up.
2. Freedom baseball
Still cooking, now 9-1 after beating Armwood 15-5 for its ninth straight win as of March 12.
3. Wildcat baseball
Still cooking, now 8-1 after beating Hillsborough 15-1 as of March 12.
4. Wharton girls lacrosse
The Wildcats won their fifth straight match last week, beating Bloomingdale 15-12, improving to 7-2 on the season.
Number of the week: 100
Wharton senior lacrosse standout Abigail Mulligan surpassed 100 career goals in the Wildcats win over Bloomingdale.
Mulligan had 52 goals as a freshman for Wharton, but didn’t play her sophomore and junior years, and after passing 100 goals last week is likely to surpass her career high in upcoming games against winless Angeline Academy and Alonso next week.
Mulligan, a senior midfielder and one of the top players in the area, is an Austin Peay State University signee.
Promoted!
Nicole Moore is the new head coach of the Freedom volleyball team.
Moore will replace coach Renee Thompson, who resigned following one of the school’s most successful runs. In four seasons, Thompson went 40-22, with district titles each season.
Moore acknowledged in a Facebook post she has big shoes to fill, but she inherits a team that loses only two players to graduation and returns kills leader Naya Daniels, blocks leader Ellie Cole, digs leader Averi Addison and assists leader Katie Kurtz, to name a few.
Match of the week
Freedom used its depth to pull out a 4-3 win over King last week, improving to 5-2. King’s Addy Elzy (No. 1 singles) and Sara Mane (No. 2) posted wins, and Elzy and Grace Bedenbaugh teamed up to win at No. 2 doubles.
But the Patriots at Nos. 3-4-5 singles — sophomores Grace Moubarak, Mary Dean and Jada Stevenson, respectively — all posted 6-0, 6-0 wins, and Dean and Stevenson clinched the victory with an 8-0 decision at No. 2 doubles.
Match of next week
Things will change between now and then, but the March 24, 7 p.m. baseball game at Freedom between the host Patriots and Wharton is turning out of be one of the most anticipated showdowns between the two rivals in years.
Freedom still had a tough game to play against Jefferson (No. 2 in the most recent 813Preps poll) and Wharton faced Plant City, and then both teams headed to the Saladino Tournament, but no matter what happens, their Bruce B. Baseball match-up should be fun.
Bonus: They meet again the following week on March 31 at Wharton.
Shout outs
• Freedom cross country and track competitor Maggie Takamatsu has officially been named the school’s 2026 class valedictorian. Takamatsu has already pole vaulted 10 feet this season, making her both fearless and smart. Congrats!
• Wharton sophomore Alex Capezutti hit his first varsity home run in a win over Strawberry Crest, and had a double the next game to make him 2-for-3 with three runs and three RBI for the week.
• Playing at No. 1 singles for the Wharton tennis team, freshman Neal Williams lost his first two matches this season, but has won the next six. Playing pro sets up to eight, Williams has outscored his opposition by a whopping 48-4 margin.
• We caught this on the New Tampa Athletic Association’s Facebook page and couldn’t ignore it — Rhys Barton launched his first-ever over-the-fence home run for the 12U Tomahawks last weekend, a feat made more impressive by the fact Barton was coming back from two broken wrists suffered over the holidays.
