1. SPORTS SECTION
B
NEWS-JOURNAL
MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015
BREAKING THROUGH
Spruce Creek’s Ryan Lochte
wins 200 IM at Arena Pro Series
meet in Charlotte. PAGE 6B
Associated Press/MATT SLOCUM
Victor Espinoza and American
Pharoah go for the Triple Crown on
June 6 at the Belmont Stakes.
By RICHARD ROSENBLATT
Associated Press
BALTIMORE — That was easy, wasn’t it?
Two weeks after struggling but winning
the Kentucky Derby, American Pharoah
ignored thunder, lightning, rain and the
opposition and splashed his way to a sev-
en-length victory Saturday in the Preak-
ness at Pimlico Race Course.
Now, it’s on to the June 6 Belmont Stakes
for a shot at the Triple Crown and racing
immortality.
“He’s just an amazing horse,” trainer
Bob Baffert glowed after winning his sixth
Preakness. “Everyone talks about the
greatness and it’s just starting to show
now. To me, they have to prove it. The way
he did it (Saturday), he just ran so fast. It
was like poetry in motion.”
Here are some things learned about
American Pharoah from the Preakness:
Post position
Inside or outside, American Pharoah is one
HORSE RACING
What we learned from Preakness?
American Pharoah’s win has him close to history
By JENNA FRYER
Associated Press
CONCORD, N.C. — Denny Hamlin in-
tently watched the qualifying event
for NASCAR’s annual All-Star race
and noticed, as has been the case in
recent years, the driver out front in
the waning laps almost was certainly
guaranteed the win.
As Greg Biffle led all 20 laps of the
Sprint Showdown to earn a spot in
the All-Star race, Hamlin understood
nothing about NASCAR’s current
rules package has changed. To win
the $1 million prize Saturday night,
he’d have to be the leader exiting
Turn 2 on the first lap of the final
segment.
Hamlin wasn’t alone in that theo-
ry.
With clean air critical in this cur-
rent rules package, chasing down the
leader during a short run is next to
impossible. The 110-lap All-Star race
concludes with a 10-lap sprint to the
finish, and it’s proven time and again
to not be enough laps for a challeng-
er to mount a formidable attempt at
the win.
“The final 10 laps, you’ve got to
be on the front row,” Hamlin said.
“Aero means so much with these
cars nowadays that the person out
front just has a huge advantage. I
knew once we got cleared going into
Turn 1, we had a great shot.”
That’s how Hamlin earned what
he considers the biggest win of his
career. His victory in the dash-for-
cash at Charlotte Motor Speedway
gave team owner Joe Gibbs his first
All-Star race victory in 24 years of
trying, and it was the first for manu-
facturer Toyota.
He wasn’t alone in his thought he
SPRINT CUP
Hamlin learns from history
Associated Press/TERRY RENNA
Denny Hamlin took lessons from past All-Star
races and used that to his advantage Saturday.
By DANNY KLEIN
danny.klein@news-jrnl.com
ORANGE CITY — Scottie Seamens
threw on a University baseball shirt
and took his mother, Kimm, out for a
quiet dinner on her birthday.
Perhaps looking back, Seamens
should have thought this through.
“I had two or three people come up
to me and say ‘I heard about you guys
this season. That’s great.’ ” Seamens
said. “And they weren’t even people I
know.”
The senior outfielder is enjoying a
newfound celebrity these days. On a
team full of improbable stories, his
rise to postseason immortality might
be the most unlikely.
Seamens began the season 0 for 18
and was playing so poorly his exact
average still is a mystery.
“If he was lucky, it was .180,” Uni-
versity coach Frank Martello said.
But then the playoffs arrived and so
did the hits. He’s collected eight and
six RBIs in the Titans’ (17-13) run to
Wednesday’s Class 8A state semifinal
against Orlando Timber Creek (19-10)
at Fort Myers’ JetBlue Park.
To put things in perspective, Sea-
mens had just one RBI the entire reg-
ular season. There was a point when
Martello platooned him in left field,
hoping the break would force Sea-
mens to reevaluate his stretch run.
It did more than that. On the heels
of a six-game losing streak, Seamens
gathered his teammates in a pregame
huddle and let everything come out.
“We tried everything,” Seamens
said. “We had one of our old coaches
bring a T-shirt in from when he won
states in Little League, to hanging up
the big Titan on the fence. I was just
like, ‘Guys, let’s shock the world. We
can do it.’ They were kind of confused
PREP BASEBALL
UNLIKELY HEROUniversity’s Seamens has gone from afterthought to key cog
News-Journal/NIGEL COOK
University’s Scottie Seamens had just one RBI going into the postseason. He has six RBIs in the playoffs, helping
the Titans reach the Class 8A state semifinals.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
News-Journal/PETER BAUER
Stetson’s Alizee Michaud will
compete in the NCAA Women’s
Tennis Championships in Waco,
Texas, starting Wednesday.
By DANNY KLEIN
danny.klein@news-jrnl.com
At the start of the year, Stet-
son directfor of tennis Pierre
Pilote and Alizee Michaud came
up with a list of goals:
zzWin Atlantic Sun Freshman
and Player of the Year;
zzGo undefeated in singles play
(15-0);
zzEarn a national ranking (No.
91) and;
zzQualify for the NCAA Wom-
en’s Tennis Championships.
Sound reasonable for a fresh-
man?
“(Pilote) said, ‘You’re going
to be ranked, you’re going to
be this good and you’re going
to do this and this,’ and we
worked together and did it all,”
Michaud said. “I feel like it’s a
‘we’ thing.”
Michaud’s brilliant first year
is not done yet. The 2013 Class
4A state champion from Orlan-
do Dr. Phillips has one more
challenge ahead.
Because of her Intercollegiate
Tennis Association ranking,
Michaud was the only A-Sun
individual selected as an auto-
matic qualifier for the NCAAs,
set for Wednesday-May 25 at
Baylor University’s Hurd Ten-
nis Center in Waco, Texas.
“I’m really excited,” she said.
“Yeah, I’m a freshman and it’s
my first year there, so it’s not
that much pressure. But I still
know I can do well. So I have
that personal pressure that I’m
putting on myself to go as a far
as I can.”
Pilote and Michaud share a
similar outlook.
“We’re going in there with the
expectation that she can win
the tournament,” Pilote said. “I
know she’s as talented as any-
one competing. But it’s going to
be a tough competition. A lot of
it will come down to the draw.”
Added Michaud: “There’s a
lot of great players. It’s kind of
one of those things where I can
lose first round, but I also feel
Michaud
ready for
challenge
Stetson freshman
fulfills her goals
Up Next
Who: University (17-13) vs. Orlando
Timber Creek (19-10) in Class 8A
state semifinal
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: JetBlue Park, Fort Myers
Up Next
What: Coca-Cola 600
Where: Charlotte (North Carolina)
Motor Speedway
When: 6 p.m. May 24
TV/Radio: Fox/1150 AM
Inside
Motorsports roundup, Saturday’s
and Sunday’s results, PAGE 3B
Belmont Stakes
When: 6:40 p.m. June 6
Where: Belmont Park in Elmont Park,
New York
Distance: 1 1/2 miles
TV: NBC
SEE HERO, PAGE 6B
SEE MICHAUD, PAGE 2BSEE PREAKNESS, PAGE 6B
SEE HAMLIN, PAGE 3B