Preps

Jesuit defeats TC a third time

TAMPA -- The first two times it was anybody's game until the final out, as Jesuit came away with one-run victories over its toughest rival, Tampa Catholic.

The third time it was all Jesuit.

The Tigers, in an 8-3 win, were strong on the mound and in the field (scattering six hits with no errors), while being powerful and disciplined at the plate (two home runs, two doubles and six walks).

Kevin Orihuela won the game throwing six innings, allowing four hits and earning more respect from TC coach Tom Reidy.

"He has pitched well against us before, and once again you have to give him credit," Reidy said. "Sure, we didn't play well today. We made mistakes. But Orihuela deserves his share of the credit for this victory."

As does Tiger catcher Brett Bentley, who put Jesuit ahead 4-2 in the fourth with a two-run home run to leftfield.

"We wanted to get on them as early as we could with them being at home," Jesuit coach John Crumbley said. "Brett's home run was just what we were looking for. It sparked us."

The Tigers followed with two runs in the fifth, but those runs had a lot to do with Crusaders miscues, namely consecutive throwing errors with runners on second and third.

"It's plain and simple," Reidy said, "you can't make mistakes like that against good teams.

"Jesuit took advantage of our mistakes."

The victory improved the Tigers to 16-5 and 6-2 in Class 3A, District 9, giving them the top seed in the district tournament.

TC dropped to 11-7 and 5-3, but Reidy, like Crumbley, said seeding doesn't have that much bearing on the district tournament.

"We've proven that there are four teams in our district (Jesuit, Tampa Catholic, Robinson and Osceola) that could beat the other ones on any given day," Crumbley said. "So because there's only five teams in the district (first-year Freedom being the other), seeding doesn't mean much."

Reidy said he hated to lose to Jesuit, but said the loss was far from devastating.

"We'll be fine," Reidy said. "We're still very much alive."

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