Earlier this month at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg former UCF catcher Drew Butera made his return to the Sunshine State as the Minnesota Twins visited the Tampa Bay Rays, just 121 miles away from Jay Bergman Field, where Butera made his home from 2003-05.

When the College World Series ended late Tuesday night at Rosenblatt Stadium, Apopka High School alum Robert Beary bottled up handfuls of infield dirt from the historic site after his first season at South Carolina was capped off with a national championship win.

Later this week the College World Series begins, on Saturday, June 19. And while area teams such as UCF and Stetson will not be taking part, it doesn’t mean Central Florida players have been left out. Florida and Florida State have a combined eight locals on baseball rosters.

For the young ballplayers who recently accepted their high school diplomas, the decision is now whether to start collegiate playing careers or join minor league baseball teams. For current underclassmen hailing from nearby, the decision is a similar one to make.

This wasn’t how summer break was supposed to start for Mike Von Kamecke. Last Saturday the former Bishop Moore lacrosse star ended his college career in the NCAA Division III title game in Maryland as Salisbury lost in the championship to Tufts by a 9-6 score.

A total of eight former UCF baseball players are enjoying life in the professional ranks this April. The Knights are represented at the Major League level by Drew Butera, while four other former players are competing at the Double-A level or higher in 2010.

And with the 41st overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills select… Torell Troup. The nose tackle became the second-highest UCF draft pick all-time and first player taken from Conference USA on Friday with the ninth pick in the second round.

With the start of the Major League Baseball season underway a handful of former UCF Knights have found a home with a number of organizations, including three – Drew Butera, Mike Maroth and Matt Fox – with the Minnesota Twins.

Four local players punched tickets to the Big Dance this week. Making a trip to March Madness are Florida’s Chandler Parsons (Lake Howell), Purdue’s Keaton Grant (Gateway), Wofford’s Corey Godzinski (East Ridge) and Winthrop’s Chris Malcolm (Timber Creek).

It wasn’t long ago that left-handed pitchers Brian Adkins and Steven Ewing were throwing everything they had at opposing batters as seniors at University High School. On Tuesday night they each took the mound when Miami visited the UCF Knights.