“It was right before (Phillies) spring training opened in Clearwater,” said Saucier, who pitched five seasons in the Major Leagues. “It was a lot of fun. Then I probably did four or five after that. It’s special to be part of something like that.”
The one-day event, being held from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., is set up as a special four-hour experience for dads.
Each participant will receive a custom-fitted Blue Wahoos jersey with their name and number, along with other merchandise items, breakfast and lunch provided, batting practice and fielding practice with instruction, a simulated game and meeting inside the completely remodeled visitors’ clubhouse to ask questions of three former players who hoisted a World Series trophy.
The cost is $350 per participant. It is designed for fathers, but each participant can bring their son or daughter by paying the additional $350 registration fee.
“The majority of these fantasy camps are several days long and run between $5,000 and $10,000, so we’re able to do something like this in one day for several hours, which is great,” said Saucier, who went from helping Escambia High win state championships to reaching the pinnacle in Major League Baseball. “Very thankful to have Tim and Adron participating. Each of us has own story to tell on how we got there.
“The guys will be able to come into the locker room, be part of a locker room setting and we’ll talk to them, open up about what we all did. Then we’ll be on the field. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun for these guys.
“(Participants) will be around local guys who have been there and done it.”
“It was exciting to dive into and see how to put this together,” said Shannon Hannah, the Blue Wahoos’ events manager. “A lot of parks do this on different scales. This was something we wanted to start and see how we can develop.
“Without having the team at home that weekend, it allows full access to the visitors’ clubhouse and really be able to create a special experience. I’m excited to see how it goes. I think people enjoy seeing the behind-the-scenes elements and Kevin is so great with people and talking about his career.”
Ironically, Saucier followed his playing career to transition into becoming a MLB regional scouting director. Two of the players he scouted in high school and recommended were Spooneybarger and Chambers.
That team also fired manager Jeff Torberg during the season and persuaded legendary Jack McKeon, then 72, to come out of retirement in May to manage the ballclub. It led to a Wild Card playoff spot, then an NL championship, and the Marlins beat the New York Yankees in six games to win their second title.
Chambers has just published a book on his life, “From Pensacola To The World Series.”
These are the kind of backgrounds that Saucier hopes will interest Fantasy Camp participants to get to know former players who attained rare feats.
“I hope people can have a lot of fun and realize we are people just like they are,” Saucier said. “We might have gone a different route and did different things, but we’re all just normal people.”
Saucier remembers his initial Fantasy Camp experience when he pitched two innings to participants that year at Jack Russell Stadium, the Phillies former spring training home in Clearwater.
“I can’t do that now,” he said, laughing. “But back then, with it not being that far removed from that World Series year, there were a ton of fathers who were Phillies fans attending.
“It’s good. You get to be around people who want to know what it was like playing (in Major League Baseball) and they get a chance to have batting practice and get a feel for what it was like to play.”
WANT TO PARTICIPATE?
WHAT: Blue Wahoos’ Father’s Day Fantasy Baseball Camp
WHEN: June 14, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium
COST: $350 per participant.
WHO: Former MLB players Kevin Saucier, Tim Spooneybarger and Adron Chambers, all from Pensacola, are guest instructors; along with former Detroit Tigers infielder Jake Wood.
FORMAT: Each participant receives Blue Wahoos game jersey, custom-fitted with name and number, plus breakfast and lunch provided, on-field instruction and practice, a simulated game experience and being able to visit with the former MLB players in the clubhouse.
Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at bvilona@bluewahoos.com
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Matilde Fantin’s late third period goal lifted the No. 4 Nittany Lions over No. 10 Cornell on Tuesday evening to finish 18-1-0 in 2025.
HOW IT HAPPENED
With under five minutes to go in the game and on the power play, Maddy Christian skated into the offensive zone after receiving a pass from Sophie Morrow and she dropped it off to Matilde Fantin who sent a rocket just under the bar to score.
GOALTENDERS
Senior goaltender Katie DeSa made a season-high 35 saves in the victory. She is now tied with Josie Bothun ’24 for the program’s all-time shutout.
Cornell goaltender Annelies Bergmann made 31 saves in the loss.
STATS AND NOTES
Penn State won their sixth game over a ranked opponent, their most wins over ranked opponents in a single season.
Katie DeSa’s 34 saves is the most by a Nittany Lion goaltender since she had 38 against Mercyhurst on Dec. 7, 2024.
Matilde Fantin scored her eighth goal of the season, to lead all rookie skaters on PSU.
Penn State improves to 2-4-1 against Cornell all-time, snapping a three-game losing streak dating back to Oct. 13, 2022.
Maddy Christian has points in back-to-back games to bring her season total to 20.
UP NEXT
Penn State hits the road to face No. 2 Ohio State in the program’s first ever top-five matchup in Columbus, Ohio this weekend. Friday’s game is set for 6 p.m. and Saturday’s puck drop slated 3:30 p.m.
The Appalachian Newspapers’ 2025 All Mountain Volleyball Team is comprised of players from the 15th Region, Jenkins, Buckhorn, Knott Central, Perry Central, Hazard and Letcher Central.
The 2025 All-Mountain Volleyball Team was voted upon by the Appalachian Newspapers’ Randy White, Steve LeMaster and Adam Mahan.
All Mountain
Volleyball Player of the Year nominees:
Kylie Kinner — Paintsville
Miley Riddle — Shelby Valley
Lindy Gearheart — Pikeville
Taylor Baker — Knott Central
All Mountain Volleyball
Player of the Year
Miley Riddle — Shelby Valley: Riddle had an outstanding junior season. She led the state in kills with 838 (Paintsville’s Kylie Kinner finished second with 828). Riddle helped Shelby Valley to its most successful season in school history as the Lady Wildcats finished the season with a 34-6 record. Shelby Valley won the 15th Region All “A” Classic and advanced to the state All “A” Classic Bronze Division finals, the 59th District Tournament, their first-ever 15th Region Tournament championship, a win over Knott Central in the opening round of the KHSAA Volleyball State Tournament and an appearance in the state volleyball quarterfinals.
All Mountain Coach of
the Year nominees:
Misty Riddle — Shelby Valley
Dawn Kinner — Paintsville
Shae Cornett — Knott Central
All Mountain Coach
of the Year:
Misty Riddle — Shelby Valley: Riddle helped Shelby Valley to its most successful season in school history as the Lady Wildcats finished the season with a 34-6 record. Shelby Valley won the 15th Region All “A” Classic and advanced to the state All “A” Classic Bronze Division finals, the 59th District Tournament, their first-ever 15th Region Tournament championship, a win over Knott Central in the opening round of the KHSAA Volleyball State Tournament and an appearance in the state volleyball quarterfinals.
The new year will begin with a significant showcase for a player who could mean a lot to the Kansas volleyball team down the line.
Right-side hitter Taylor Stanley, a 2026 signee, will take part in the Under Armour All-America Game, an all-star match that purports to feature “the 28 best high school volleyball players in the country, hands down.” The event will take place at The Venue at UCF in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday and is set for livestreams on ESPN+ and the SportsCenter Next YouTube channel beginning at 3 p.m. Central Time.
Stanley will wear No. 23 for Team Roses, which is led by longtime Texas, USC and United States national team coach Mick Haley, as one of seven pin hitters on its roster. She is the only Kansan or KU pledge taking part in the event.
Stanley stands 6-foot-3 and has played for Blue Valley Southwest High School in Overland Park and the KC Power club team.
“Taylor definitely represents the best player in the area, and she’s choosing to be at her home school, and she wants to be a Jayhawk, KU coach Matt Ulmer said in a VBAdrenaline livestream for signing day, “and again hopefully people will want to follow that.”
She signed with KU in November and, according to her school newspaper, is set to enroll early, meaning she will join the Jayhawks not long after taking part in the All-America Game. VBAdrenaline.com ranks Stanley as the No. 12 overall player in the class and the No. 1 opposite.
“I don’t know what you don’t like about her,” Ulmer said on the livestream. “I really think there’s everything that you would want in an opposite. She can absolutely bring that. She can also score from the left, she can score from the back row, I mean, she’s going to be a six-rotation point scorer, and we know the names of the people that can do that at a high level, and I think that’s what she can bring.”
She has spent time representing the U.S. at the youth level, as she played with the under-19 national team, which competed above its age group at the 2025 FIVB Women’s U21 World Championship in Surabaya, Indonesia, in August. The U.S. went 7-2 with a ninth-place finish.
At KU, Stanley will be part of a six-player class that also includes pin hitters Tessa Dodd, Avery Poulton and Ryan Sadler and middle blockers Cydnee Bryant and Jaeli Rutledge. She may see significant action right away on the right side, in part because of the qualities Ulmer described and in part because of the offseason departure of all-conference opposite Jovana Zelenović.
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26 Jayhawk athletes to know in ’26
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KU signee Stanley set for All-America Game
Written By Henry Greenstein
Henry is the sports editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com, and serves as the KU beat writer while managing day-to-day sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (B.A., Linguistics) and Arizona State University (M.A., Sports Journalism). Though a native of Los Angeles, he has frequently been told he does not give off “California vibes,” whatever that means.
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Athletics recognized two student-athletes as the Wolters Kluwer Athletes of the Month for December. Men’s Basketball sophomore guard Luke Winkel (Ankeny, Iowa) was named Male Athlete of the Month while Volleyball junior outside hitter Shelby Kimm (North Liberty, Iowa) was named Female Athlete of the Month for their performances during the month.
Luke Winkel’s December Highlights
Averaged 22.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.5 assists.
Shot 44.7% from the field, 43.6% from three, and 74.2% from the free throw line.
Tallied his first career double-double with 27 points and 11 assists against Wayne State.
Scored a then career-high 29 points against Concordia-St. Paul to go with six assists.
Totaled a new career-high of 30 points with seven rebounds and five steals against Sioux Falls.
Helped lead the Huskies to a 5-0 start in the NSIC for the first time since 2008-09.
SCSU went 4-2 in December and are tied for third in the NSIC with a 5-2 conference record.
Currently fourth in the NSIC in scoring and assists.
Produced 19 digs and seven kills in the Huskies 3-1 win over No. 17 Missouri Western in the NCAA Round of 64/Central Region Quarterfinals. Her 19 digs were tied for the second most in a single match this season and it was her sixth straight match with double digit digs.
Recorded 11 kills and eight digs in SCSU’s 3-1 win over No. 2 and Central Region Host, Nebraska Kearney in the NCAA Round of 32/Central Region Semifinals. It was her 21st match with 10+ kills.
Notched an 18-dig, 13-kill double-double with three block assists in the Huskies five-set loss to No. 6 Concordia-St. Paul in the NCAA Sweet 16/Central Region Championship. It was her 17th double-double of the season. It was also her fifth match with 18+ digs and her 13th match with 13+ kills.
Named to the AVCA All-America Second Team, AVCA All-Central Region Second Team, D2CCA All-Central Region First Team and NCAA Central Region All-Tournament Team.
Named to CSC Academic All-District® Team, NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence and NSIC All-Academic Team.
Helped the Huskies earn a No. 5 ranking in the final AVCA/TARAFLEX Division II Poll for the second consecutive season and third time in program history.
Helped SCSU tie its program record for NCAA Tournament wins in a season with two and advance to the NCAA Round of 16/Central Region Championship for the second consecutive season and third time in the past four seasons.
2025-2026 Wolters Kluwer Athletes of the Month September
October
Austin Burnevik (Men’s Hockey)
Ellie Primerano (Women’s Soccer)
November
Dominic Ducato (Wrestling)
Jaylee Strickland (Women’s Soccer)
December
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Athletics, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the Huskies on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Three incoming Nebraska volleyball student-athletes will compete in the 2026 Under Armour Next All-America Match on New Year’s Day at The Venue on the campus of UCF in Orlando.
Gabby DiVita will play on Team Pearls, while Jayden Robinson and Keoni Williams will be on Team Roses.
The Under Armour Next All-America Match will be streamed live on the SCNext YouTube Channel at 3:30 p.m. CT on Jan. 1, with ESPNU re-airing the event at 6 p.m. CT on Jan. 4.
The Under Armour Next All-America match features some of the nation’s best high school seniors as they prepare to join some of the top college volleyball programs in the country. This elite class has committed to 16 different colleges.
