Lakeland native Chris Sale, just the third MLB pitcher to start three consecutive All Star games, didn’t seem destined for greatness, his JV coach from Lakeland High School says. He was “a good pitcher, nothing great, didn’t stand out,” Ron Nipper said. “What did you see in him that made you think he’d be a major leaguer? I said, ‘Nothing.’ ” But Nipper said Sale showed intensity and was fearless as a sophomore when pitching against Andrew McCutchen, then a Fort Meade player and now an MLB hitting star | Check the WFLA video

Lakeland resident Sydney Devore, a former track athlete at the University of Florida and a fourth-grade teacher at Spessard Holland Elementary School, qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials by winning a marathon in Pittsburgh, the first one she attempted.

Matt Parziale became a firefighter in Brockton, Mass., in 2014, partly because the job would give him time to work on his golf game. He earned three All-American honors and an individual championship when he golfed at Southeastern University from 2006 to 2009. He qualified for the Masters by winning the U.S Mid-Amateur Championship last October.

ALSO: Parziale’s SEU coach and a roommate/teammate tell ESPN about his college days.