Preps

600th sweet for PHU's Nichols

Greg Nichols hits the milestone against PCAC rival Dunedin, the team he coached for 28 years.

By JOHN C. COTEY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 24, 2003

As far as victories go, you will find none sweeter than Palm Harbor's 8-2 win over Dunedin on Wednesday night.

After all, it was Dunedin. It was at Grant Field. It was for a possible berth in the PCAC championship game.

Oh, and it was win No. 600 for coach Greg Nichols, who won his first 545 games as the coach at ... Dunedin.

"It couldn't be much sweeter," said Nichols, Pinellas County's all-time winningest coach, "than beating Dunedin."

Nichols, who retired in 1997 after 28 years at Dunedin but was lured back three years later to coach PHU, was presented with a banner and trophy after the game.

Nichols won No. 500 on the same field, he said.

He said Wednesday's win was PHU's best game of the season, thanks in part to another solid pitching performance from Jason Kiley and a lineup that took advantage of its opportunities.

The Hurricanes (a school-record 18-7) pounded out 11 hits, and 3-4-5 hitters Shawn Heuton, Greg Mandilk and Wade Waybrant were a combined 6-for-10, reaching base in 10 of 12 trips to the plate, scoring four runs and during in four, including three by Waybrant.

"This was a huge night for us," Heuton said. "To beat them here, on their senior night ... they wanted us, and we wanted them, wanted to beat them. It was huge."

Kiley accomplished a rare task: he beat Dunedin for the second time this season. He allowed a home run to Ryan Harvey, but threw 61/3 innings, allowing six hits and both runs.

Tha Falcons (20-5) could have clinched the North spot in the PCAC title game with a win, but now need to beat Clearwater tonight and hope a tiebreaker goes in its favor as Dunedin, Seminole and PHU could be 6-1 in the league.

Hilbert thinks his team has the edge in the case of a three-way tiebreaker. But he was planning to win Wednesday night and make it a moot point, so he said he has not researched it enough.

On the other hand, Nichols thinks his Hurricanes should go. He said in the past the team that has gone the longest without going to the PCAC title game was selected, and that would be PHU. But he also was unsure how it would play out, hoping Bob Hosack, county athletic coordinator, settles the issue today.

"I want to play Friday," Nichols said as he roamed the dugout after the win. "I want to play Friday."

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