High School Sports

St. Thomas Aquinas water polo wins region title. District, region baseball and tennis. Plus more

The region champion St. Thomas Aquinas boys’ water polo team.
The region champion St. Thomas Aquinas boys’ water polo team. Photo Courtesy St. Thomas Aquinas Athletics

The St. Thomas Aquinas boys’ water polo team edged Miami Country Day 10-9 to win the Region 3 title.

Trailing 9-8, the Raiders (24-4) scored twice in the fourth period for the come-from-behind win. Lev Konnikov led St. Thomas Aquinas with six goals.

Samuel Eastaugh recorded two goals, and three assists. Jake Corbett and Matthew Lapin each scored, and Tommasso Leonardi added an assist.

The region champion Raiders advanced to state.

District baseball

The True North baseball team won its second consecutive district championship, capturing the District 15-2A title with a 3-0 win over Palmer Trinity.

The district champion True North baseball team.
The district champion True North baseball team. Photo Courtesy True North Athletics

Winning pitcher Will Foss tossed four innings of shutout ball, while allowing one hit and two walks and striking out five on 67 pitches. Alex Diaz followed with 2.2 strong innings of relief, adding two strikeouts to keep the Falcons off balance. Carlos Victorero closed the door, needing just one out to seal the shutout by inducing a game ending groundout for the save.

Junior Noah Gamboa led the offense, going 2-for-2. He also produced one of the game’s highlights with a spectacular diving catch at second base in the top of the fifth with runners in scoring position to preserve the shutout.

UCF commit Matias Fischer was 1-for-3, driving in a run and stealing a base, and teammates Jayden Cedeno (Jr.) and Kash Ojeda (Sr.) each added hits. Ojeda also drove in a run to help extend a lead they would never relinquish.

True North (16-7) is a No.1 seed heading into regionals on Saturday. Palmer Trinity (21-5) will also advance to regional play.

Region baseball

The region quarterfinalists from the area include: 7A: Stoneman Douglas, Coral Glades, Cypress Bay, Southwest, Columbus, South Dade, West Broward, Western. 6A: St. Thomas Aquinas, Braddock, Doral Academy, Flanagan, Southridge, Coral Springs. 5A: Mater Academy Charter, Hialeah, Archbishop McCarthy, Pembroke Pines Charter. 4A: American Heritage-Plantation, Key West, Belen Jesuit, Somerset Academy-Pembroke Pines. 3A: St. Brendan, Miami Springs, iMater Charter, Sunset, Monsignor Pace, Cardinal Gibbons, Gulliver Prep, Killian. 2A: True North Classical, Archbishop Carroll, Palmer Trinity, Westminster Christian, Florida Christian, Chaminade-Madonna, NSU University. 1A: Miami Christian, Highlands Christian, Dade Christian, Schoolhouse Prep, Brito.

District tennis

Belen Jesuit won the boys’ title, and Lourdes was the girls’ champion in District 16-3A tennis. Both advance to regionals along with district runners-up TERRA boys and girls.

Sophie Gutierrez (left) and Isabella Giordano of TERRA tennis won the No.1 girls’ doubles title at districts, qualifying for state.
Sophie Gutierrez (left) and Isabella Giordano of TERRA tennis won the No.1 girls’ doubles title at districts, qualifying for state. Photo Courtesy TERRA Athletics

Isabella Giordano of TERRA won the No.1 girls’ singles title and teamed with Sophie Gutierrez to also win at No.1 doubles to automatically qualify for state as did Belen’s Julian and Sebastian Vinals.

Alexandra Siegle (left) and Lexie Bursa of the Westminster Academy girls’ tennis team are state-bound.
Alexandra Siegle (left) and Lexie Bursa of the Westminster Academy girls’ tennis team are state-bound. Photo Courtesy Westminster Academy Athletics

In District 14-1A, freshman Lexie Bursa and 8th grader Alexandra Siegle of Westminster Academy qualified for state by winning the No.1 girls’ doubles title. Bursa also reached state by winning districts at No.1 singles.

DISTRICT 16-3A

Boys: Team: Champion Belen Jesuit; Runner-up TERRA.

Individual finals results: No.1 singles winner Julian Vinals (Bel) d. runner-up Anand Thampy (T) 6-2, 6-2.

No.2 singles winner Sebastian Vinals (Bel) d. runner-up Trevor Bamonte (T) 6-0, 6-4.

No.3 singles winner Joey Shriver (Bel) d. runner-up Thierry Santos (Miami Beach) 6-0, 6-0.

No.4 singles winner Gabriel de Solo (Bel) d. runner-up Marcelo Lugo (T) 6-3, 6-0.

No.5 singles winner Jude Rosen (Miami Beach) d. runner-up Gonzalo Garcia (Bel) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.

No.1 doubles winner Julian Vinals/Sebastian Vinals (Bel) d. runners-up Thampy/Bamonte (T) 6-1, 6-3.

No.2 doubles winner Gabriel de Solo/Dylan Senaris (Bel) d. runners-up Lugo/Justin Cabrero (T) 6-2, 6-4.

Girls: Team: Champion Our Lady of Lourdes; Runner-up TERRA.

Individual finals results: No.1 singles winner Isabella Giordano (T) d. runner-up Veronica Suarez (Lour) 6-2, 6-1.

No.2 singles winner Amanda Alfonso (Lour) d. runner-up Lea Scheuermann (Varela) 6-2, 6-1.

No.3 singles winner Paloma Diaz (Lour) d. runner-up Sophie Gutierrez (T) 6-4, 6-1.

No.4 singles winner Angelina Codeso (Lour) d. runner-up Antonella Siefert (T) 6-0, 6-0.

No.5 singles winner Fernanda Suarez (Miami Beach) d. runner-up Grace Leon (Lour) 6-4, 2-6, (10-8).

No.1 doubles winner Isabella Giordano/Sophie Gutierrez (T) d. runners-up Paloma Diaz/Angelina Codeso (Lour) 6-4, 7-5.

No.2 doubles winner Abigail Pedroso/Amanda Feliciello (T.) d. runners-up Grace Leon/Carolina Leon (Lour) 6-2, 2-6, (10-6).

Region tennis

GIRLS: 2A Region Semifinal: Gulliver Prep d. Don Soffer Aventura 5-0: No.1 singles winner Mika Ringel 6-0, 6-1; No.2 singles winner Siena Ringel 6-3, 6-0; No.3 singles winner Valentina Donoso 6-2, 6-0; No.4 singles winner Hanna Matuk 6-0, 6-2; No.5 singles winner Juliette Le Bona 6-0, 6-0.

BOYS: 1A Region Semifinal: Miami Country Day 4, Ransom Everglades 3.

More tennis

The young AIE tennis program continues to improve.

For the past four years, middle school and high school students involved in the program.

This season, the Aviators went undefeated in the regular season in the girls’ division at 10-0. Last season they were 3-6. The boys’ team also had a winning record at 6-4, compared to last season’s 2-7 mark.

The AIE boys’ and girls’ tennis teams.
The AIE boys’ and girls’ tennis teams. Photo Courtesy AIE Tennis

At the District 15-1A Tournament, sophomore Marcella Camarota reached the finals in No.1 girls’ singles, and three doubles tandems were semifinalists. Those athletes were sophomores Ana Delgado & Camarota at No.1 girls’ doubles; 8th grader Layla Monzon & junior Zoe Kennedy at No.2 girls’ doubles; and 7th grader Lucas Camarota & 8th grader Dyllan Korse at No.2 boys’ doubles.

Softball

The Braddock girls’ softball team defeated Miami Beach 19-4 in 4 innings.

Emely Ramirez was the winning pitcher for the Bulldogs (7-7). Emily Cancio and Grace Serracin each batted 2-for-3. Anais Gonzalez and Anelis Goberna were 2-for-4 with Goberna hitting a home run.

More softball

Braddock 19, Varela 5: Winning pitcher Emely Ramirez; Diana Mitjans 3-3, 2B; Mia Hernandez 2-3; Anais Gonzalez 1B; Emily Cancio 1B; Emely Ramirez 1B. Brd 8-7.

Flag football

The final rosters are set for USA Football’s 15U and 17U U.S. boys’ and girls’ national teams.

In June, they face international teams in 5-on-5, Olympic-style flag football in Los Angeles at USA Football’s annual Junior International Cup.

In 17U, Westminster Christian High School’s Anthony Vera (QB) and Miami Palmetto Senior High School’s Britton Bayag (recent WR/DB transfer from Westminster Christian) became four-time members of the program and will seek to become some of the most decorated athletes in Junior National Team history this summer as they go for their fourth gold medal as teammates.

Monarch High School’s Christopher Cortinas (WR) of Coral Springs also made the 17U roster. Cortinas is a first-time member of the program.

More flag football

The Ransom Everglades girls’ flag football team defeated Mater Bay Academy 40-0 but then lost in the district semifinal against SLAM in a close battle 14-12.

Submit sports results

For high schools in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, if you have varsity sports results and top performers (with stats), email hssports@miamiherald.com.

They will run in the newspaper and online. Photos accepted, too. No deadline. You will be alerted when it will appear. Also, some will be considered athlete of the week nominations.

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Compiled by Jim Varsallone

jvarsallone@miamiherald.com

This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 6:55 PM.

Jim Varsallone
Miami Herald
Jim Varsallone writes a high school sports column twice a week, featuring top performers in all varsity sports (boys and girls) in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. He also covers pro wrestling, something he’s done since his college days in the late 1980s. Now in his fifth decade of coverage, he currently follows WWE (Raw, SmackDown and NXT), AEW, Ring of Honor, TNA Impact Wrestling, MLW, WOW, NWA, and the South Florida indies, mainly CCW. He writes MMA, too -- mostly profile stories and video interviews with American Top Team and Sanford MMA fighters in South Florida. As for pro wrestling, he writes feature stories and profile pieces, updates upcoming show schedules in South Florida, photographs the action and interviews talent (audio and video) -- sharing the content here and via social media on his Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channel: jim varsallone (jimmyv3 channel). Support my work with a digital subscription
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