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Royal Knights' depth extends past pitching
By STEVE LEE, Times Staff Writer NEW PORT RICHEY -- River Ridge always seems to have an ace with pitchers Tiffany Martin (1998) and Christine Beck (2001) having been named Sunshine Athletic Conference players of the year. This season, coach Ernie Beck has two aces up his sleeve in his daughter, Christine, and Kiki Von Holt, an East Lake transfer. Von Holt (11-1), a sophomore, tossed a four-hitter in a 3-0 district semifinal win over Mitchell. Beck (14-1), a senior, topped that with a two-hitter in the title game, an 11-0 win over Land O'Lakes. Von Holt is up next in the rotation and will pitch in tonight's Class 4A, Region 2 quarterfinal against Central. But the threat of Von Holt pitching in Friday's win over the Gators brought out the best in Beck. A walk to Brittany Hipps in the top of the fifth, followed by Land O'Lakes' only two hits -- singles by Amber DeYoung and Gina Schiffer -- left Beck in a jam. Glancing beyond the third-base line to see Von Holt warming up, Beck bore down and got out of the inning by cleanly fielding three ground balls for three consecutive outs. "When I put Kiki out there to warm up ..." coach Beck said, adding that the ploy to fire up his daughter worked. "Christine doesn't like to come out of a game." Unlike the Gators, the Knights, who Friday won their first district title after being a runner-up four times, had plenty of success at the plate. Nine of 12 batters reached base safely in River Ridge's 14-hit attack. "I've got 12, 13, 14 kids here that can play with anybody," coach Beck said. "We hit the ball, 1 through 9. All year long it's come from different places. It's not just Christine and Stefanie (Simon)." Beck and Simon bat third and fourth. Against Land O'Lakes, Beck had three hits, scored three runs and had two RBIs while Simon had two hits, scored a run and drove in another. The most significant hit of that game, however, came off the bat of junior varsity call-up Tricia Thomas. As a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the fifth, Thomas smacked a two-run home run over the left-centerfield fence that scored in the game's final runs. "I was just a little nervous. It was the third strike," said Thomas, a freshman who pitches and plays first base.
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