Preps

Baseball extra

By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 15, 2003

Call on Crumbley

Often the key to turning a season from good to very good is the ability to have a pitcher come in late in games and dominate.

For Jesuit, that pitcher is junior J.J. Crumbley.

Crumbley has experienced a bit of baptism by fire during his first varsity season, picking up a save, then earning his first win Tuesday night against district rival Tampa Catholic. He seems to have found his niche coming on in relief in big games and shutting down opponents.

Oh yeah, and he's getting better.

His first pressure experience came against Robinson, when he came in late in the district game and held the Knights down before losing 5-4. He earned a save after two strong innings against St. Petersburg Catholic.

Then, against Bradenton Manatee, Tigers coach John Crumbley -- J.J.'s father -- brought him in with the bases loaded and one out with a 6-5 lead to protect. He threw a fastball for a strike then an inside pitch, which turned into a 1-2-3 double play and another save.

On Tuesday, Crumbley pitched four innings, getting 11 of 12 outs on strikeouts while shutting down the Crusaders to get win No. 1.

For the season, he has struck out 17 in 10 innings, walked four and not allowed an earned run.

Different Strategy

Then came the district tournament and both teams took off, leaving their losing records behind and flying through region tournaments all the way to the state semifinals.

This season, both seem to have a different idea.

Chamberlain is 7-0 after a 15-0 shellacking of Blake Tuesday and Bloomingdale is 6-3 with one of the most dominating pitchers in the county.

Both are expected to enter their district tournaments as favorites and that means the question "Who are these guys?" won't persist should either team make it back to Legends Field.

Solo Slugger

The problem? They all have been solo home runs, meaning the only person he has driven in all season is himself

Of course, what Corrado, who also has two doubles, misses in RBIs he makes up for with runs scored. He has eight of those.

Walking Man

Livingston has walked 13 times, holding his official at-bat numbers down. On the other hand, Livingston's other numbers are soaring. With his seven hits, he's hitting .333 and he's also scored nine runs

Hey Zach, Lions fans say be as picky as you like.

Panther Numbers

One of the things Plant coach Bo Puckett has his hitters working on this season is pitch recognition and patience. It seems to be paying off.

The Panthers' on-base percentage is .415, thanks in large part to 60 walks.

And, once they get on base, the Panthers know what to do. Tony Zitek (.526 OBP) has scored 11 runs, Andy Joughin (.519 OBP) seven and shortstop Alberto Castellon has 11 hits, 14 stolen bases and 15 runs scored.

As if he needed any help, Puckett had his point about patience hammered home -- along with a bunch of runs -- Tuesday as Corey Brown cleared the bases with a grand slam against Jefferson. It was a shot that "bounced off the Mir Space Station. NASA is still looking for it," Puckett said.

Brown finished the game 3-for-4 with two doubles and seven RBIs.

-- Compiled by Mike Readling.

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