County coaches help out Rams

NEW PORT RICHEY -- The night before his team's region final at Ocala Forest, Ridgewood coach Larry Beets had to attend the Sunshine Athletic Conference coaches meeting, where the all-conference teams are selected.

What could have been a distraction turned out to be a blessing as the county's coaches gave Beets their best scouting reports.

And when Danny Lotz hit a solo home run over the short porch in rightfield, Pasco coach Ricky Giles and Zephyrhills coach Bruce Cimorelli were only a few seats away from where the decisive home run landed.

"I was maybe five steps away," said Giles, who drove up with Cimorelli and former Zephyrhills basketball coach Alan Reed.

"If there's anybody in this county playing baseball in the playoffs, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

One of the insights the coaches gave Beets was Forest's 290-foot fence down the rightfield line, which made for Lotz's short -- but ultimately enormous -- sixth-inning home run.

"They walked me through it," said Beets, who watched Giles go to the final four in 1997 and Cimorelli in 2000.

"They've both been there, and they told me what to expect. I really can't thank the coaches of Pasco County enough. We're going to the final four, and this is for all the coaches you respect who haven't been here."

Giles said he told Beets he'll be there again at Legends Field in Tampa on Wednesday when the Rams face undefeated Dunedin at 8 p.m.

"Just as sure as they will be," Giles said. "Beets has been baseball in Pasco as long as anybody. It couldn't happen to a better guy."

FHSAA RULING: The Florida High School Activities Association's penalty against Ridgewood for using pitcher Ronny Lowe in too many innings last week will turn out to be little more than a slap on the wrist.

FHSAA associate commissioner Ron Allen meted out the following penalties against the Rams: a $250 fine, one year of administrative probation for the program, and finally, Lowe was not allowed to pitch in Tuesday's region final, which Ridgewood won 4-3 at Ocala Forest.

"It's a fair punishment," said athletic director Gary Anders.

"I asked (Allen) what the administrative probation meant, and he said, "Nothing, if you don't screw up.' "

Daytona Seabreeze had sought a forfeit after Lowe pitched all eight innings of the Rams' 2-1 victory Friday, after pitching seven innings in a win at Central three days earlier. The state limit for any pitcher is 14 innings in any Monday-Saturday period.

And as for the fine, the Rams more than made up for that by playing Tuesday in Ocala.

FHSAA guidelines call for 30 percent of the ticket revenues to be sent to the visiting school, and with 983 people paying $5 each at Forest Field, Ridgewood will be getting a check for $1,474.50.

Forest athletic director Dave Horner said the crowd was even larger for last week's regional semifin against Hudson, meaning the Cobras and Rams combined to earn more than $3,000 for their programs in a four-day period.

EVEN TOUGHER: You'd think it couldn't get much tougher for Ridgewood than facing a team ranked No. 2 in the nation.

But by the time the Rams line up for Wednesday's state semifinal, Dunedin could very well be No. 1.

Missouri City (Texas) Elkins, the only team ranked ahead of Dunedin in the Baseball America and studentsports.com national polls, lost to Houston Lamar in the the Texas Class 5A regional playoffs in the AstroDome on Wednesday night. Lamar, ranked 15th in the Houston area, needs to win one of the next two games to eliminate Elkins in the best-of-three format.

Elkins' loss leaves Dunedin as the only undefeated team in the top 10 of either poll.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright