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Chiefs face first loss of season
By ROD GIPSON NORTH TAMPA -- In its first big test of the season, Chamberlain's softball team came up just short. Facing off at east Hillsborough rival Riverview on March 7, the Chiefs gave up three runs in the second inning and then struggled to get back in the game, losing 3-1. Chiefs pitcher Amanda Cody limited Riverview to seven hits, but the Sharks made them count. Riverview's run came courtesy of a two-run single from Casey Maines, the county's leading hitter. Maines then scored on a double from Beth DiPietro. But Cody, who fell to 4-1 on the season with the loss, managed to keep the Sharks in check from that point. Chamberlain's lone score came in the third inning when Natalie Ippolito scored from second on a Shark's throwing error. Cody and JoJo Medina supplied the Chiefs' two hits. The loss was the first of the season for Chamberlain, which quickly made up for it with two wins, including a 16-0 trouncing of Blake in five innings on Wednesday. Chamberlain hosted Wharton on Saturday and will play Hillsborough on Tuesday. In other contests from Wednesday, Alonso improved to 7-3 on the season with a 9-5 victory against Leto, Wharton lost 11-1 to Hillsborough and Gaither lost 4-1 to Riverview. A day earlier, Sickles defeated Armwood 8-1 with a solid effort from pitcher Krystal Crews. The Gryphons' No. 2 pitcher, Crews (3-0) is leading her team and the county with 42 strikeouts in 24 innings pitched. In upcoming games, Alonso hosts Jefferson on Tuesday, Freedom is at Brandon on Thursday, Gaither is at Venice on Tuesday, Leto hosts Robinson on Tuesday and Sickles is at Brandon on Wednesday. BASEBALL: Chamberlain has picked up where it left off last season. After a run to the state semifinals a season ago, the Chiefs have opened the season with seven straight wins and no losses. And after a 15-0 win against Blake on Wednesday and Sickles' losses to Hillsborough and Armwood the previous week, the Chiefs remain the county's lone undefeated squad. Chamberlain, which hosted Wharton on Saturday in a Class 5A, District 9 game, has the county's top pitcher in Brad Johnson (3-0, 22 strikeouts, 0.87 ERA, as of Thursday) and one of the top hitters in D.J. Burruezo (.526 batting average and 10 hits). Other games from Wednesday included Gaither evening its record at 3-3 after beating Riverview 4-3 and Leto topping Alonso 7-6. In upcoming matchups, Alonso hosts Jefferson on Tuesday, the same day Gaither is at Venice, Leto hosts Robinson, and Chamberlain hosts Hillsborough in a 3 p.m. game.
TRACK & FIELD: Thanks to first-place finishes in five events, Wharton's girls were able to repeat at the Hash Higgins Relays on March 8 at Leto. The Wildcats won the high jump, pole vault, discus, shuttle hurdles and 440 relay while totaling 91 points. Meet co-MVP Natalie Moser led Wharton by winning the pole vault and running the second leg on the winning hurdles relay team. Teammate Derika Folks won her first discus event of the season. Gaither runner Kate Truesdale also earned girls co-MVP honors after running on the Cowboys' winning 4x880, 4x1 mile and distance medley teams. Gaither finished fifth. In the boys race, despite winning the last race of the event, Wharton came up just shy, placing second to Jesuit 81-79. Leto was third while Sickles placed fifth, Chamberlain was sixth and Gaither tied for seventh. Leto's Coe Fedorenko was named boys meet MVP after helping the Falcons place in two relays and winning the 2-mile run. SOCCER: Several area girls and boys players participated in the Senior Soccer Challenge on March 7 in Clearwater. In the girls game, Gaither's Kasey Kubly and Nataly Arcila and Sickles' Lauren Ophaug competed for the Hillsborough squad, which fell 2-1 in penalty kicks to the Pinellas team. In the boys match, Gaither's Joey Rotolo, Josh Smith and James Cobb, Wharton's Juan Sarmiento, Addy Strasdas and Beau Jean-Charles, Sickles' Justin Hampton, Alonso's Ivan Sarti and Leto's Jeff Cummings all played for the Hillsborough team that lost 1-0 to the Pinellas seniors.
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