Sports: Tampa Bay was ready, but where was its foe?

Tampa Bay was ready, but where was its foe?

By ANTHONY GAGLIANO

Tampa Bay was warming up, expecting its semifinal matchup Monday. However, when the wrong team showed up, the game was pushed back to today, giving the Junior team a day off in the state tournament.

"There's nothing we can do about it," manager Larry Rodriguez said. "Someone at headquarters messed up. This is a big screw-up, bottom line."

After going through Deltona and Winter Springs on Saturday, Tampa Bay sewed up the No. 1 seed in the North pool. That gave it a semifinal game against South No. 2 seed Lake Wales. But Melbourne came to DeBarry instead. Tampa Bay and Lake Wales will play at 6 p.m. tonight.

Naples eliminated Deltona 4-3 in eight innings Monday in the other semifinal. The state final is Wednesday.

"I was hoping to play two (today) and go home," Rodriguez said. "This means the league has to take care of everyone for another day. Financing everyone for another day is a burden. Another day of food services, another day for the volunteers. I really sympathize with them."

9-10S: Behind back-to-back no-hitters from sisters Megan and Kristen McGrath, Northside went 3-0 in the North pool and will face South No. 2 at 6 tonight.

Sunday, Megan McGrath was near-perfect as Northside toppled Dunnellon 5-0. With two outs, McGrath was just one batter away from a perfect game but committed a throwing error to allow the only Dunnellon hitter to reach base. She hasn't given up a hit or an earned run through districts, sectionals and state.

Kristen McGrath stepped inside the circle for Northside on Monday and was nearly equal to her sister's performance. She fired a no-hitter of her own as Tri-County fell victim to another Northside shutout.

"We have two No. 1s," Northside pitching coach Al Alcala said. "They're both equal. Our rotation is set with Megan today and if we win (today), we'll go into the championship with Kristen.

Leadoff hitter Sarah Elgar continues to pace the Northside attack as her average approaches .800. Elgar was 2-for-3 with a triple Monday vs. Tri-County. Christina Martinez went 2-for-2 with three RBIs against Tri-County. Caity Chandler stole home.