Prep notebook

Two star pitchers face difficult games

BRANDON -- They each entered as the owner of a no-hitter this season. They exited prematurely after being rocked by opposing batters. The anticipated pitcher's duel between Bloomingdale's Ryan Strauss and Armwood's Brandon McArthur never materialized during their March 24 matchup. Two of the best pitchers in the area, neither had their best outings as Bloomingdale outslugged Armwood 8-5.

Tied at four after two innings, Armwood took a one-run lead in the third when a Kirk Callahan single scored Kevin Clark, who had reached base on a triple. But the Hawks' lead didn't last long as the Bulls bounced back with three runs in the fourth that would put them ahead for good.

After the Bulls' Brett Morris walked and Paul McClay singled, Mitch Rodriguez followed with a double that scored them both. Chris Woody then hit a single that drove Rodriguez home.

That was the last inning for McArthur, who gave up seven runs and five hits in his four innings of work. He struck out two and walked just one but had a poor defensive effort behind him as the Hawks made seven errors.

Strauss, meanwhile, lasted two-plus innings, before being pulled. Strauss, who threw to three batters in the third, gave up eight hits and five runs while striking out two.

The regular season schedule resumes April 1 with Armwood at Plant, Bloomingdale hosting Gaither, East Bay hosting Lakeland, Riverview at Venice and Tampa Bay Tech hosting Sickles.

ALUMNI: Former Brandon wrestler Josh Lambrecht and former Tampa Bay Tech swimmer Maritza Correia enjoyed success during the recent NCAA championships in their sports.

Lambrecht, a member of the University of Oklahoma squad, placed third in the NCAA finals at 184 pounds March 22 in Kansas City, Mo. Lambrecht won two matches in the consolations finals to earn third place and help the Sooners to third place overall. Lambrecht, who earned All-American honors last season and this year, is a 1998 graduate of Brandon High.

Competing at the NCAA championships March 22 for the University of Georgia, Correia won the 100-yard freestyle finals. She led from beginning to end in a personal-best 47.29 to win the event for the second consecutive year, while lowering the pool, school, NCAA, U.S. Open and American record. Correia, a 1999 Tech graduate has now won 11 total NCAA titles: five individual championships and six relay titles. She holds more NCAA hardware than any other Lady Bulldog in school history, and her five individual titles are second only to All-American, NCAA Champion and Olympic medalist Kristy Kowal.

POLLS: Armwood remains on the latest state baseball poll, but not by much. The Hawks checked in at No. 10 in the Class 4A poll, receiving 12 votes. Brandon, meanwhile, garnered nine votes to land just outside of the Top 10. The area was better represented on the state softball poll, where Riverview, Durant and Bloomingdale were all in the mix. Riverview remains No. 4 in Class 6A, receiving 77 votes and one for first place. Bloomingdale got nine votes to place 12th. Durant, meanwhile, is fourth on the Class 5A list, gaining 65 votes.