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© St. Petersburg Times, published February 23, 2002
CRYSTAL RIVER -- Jimmy Metz is glad to be at Crystal River. The Pirates are happy to have him.
Metz, a senior transfer from Lecanto, pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout and Crystal River overcame a slow start at the plate to beat Citrus 9-0 in a Class 3A, District 6 game Friday. The Pirates (4-0, 3-0 in 3A-6) have outscored their opponents 54-0.
"Jimmy was just awesome," Crystal River coach Brent Hall said. "When we weren't scoring, he kept us in the game."
Citrus starter Darrell Brooks kept the Hurricanes (2-3, 1-1) in it early by keeping Crystal River off balance with an assortment of pitches.
Brooks had a one-hit shutout through three innings, but was hurt by an unearned run in the fourth. He then surrendered a single to Jonathan Runnels and walked Metz with one out in the fifth before being replaced by Justin Rogers.
Clayton Trenary's infield single loaded the bases, and following a walk, hit batsman and fielder's choice, the Pirates had a 4-0 lead without doing much with the bat.
That changed in the sixth inning.
With two outs, the Pirates rallied for five runs, sparked by a triple from Trenary and doubles from Marcus Galvan and Will Bleakley.
"Darrell was tough, we just didn't help him out much," Citrus coach Mike Taylor said.
Metz (2-0) struck out 12. Only once did a Citrus batter reach third base.
"I felt like I was rushing myself at the beginning," Metz said. "But I got into a rhythm and it felt good."
Crystal River hosts Umatilla tonight at 6:30.