By null, Times Staff WriterIt has been a difficult season, but Bulldogs have chance in play-in game.
ZEPHYRHILLS - Good news has been hard to find this season for the Bulldogs program, so forgive Bruce Cimorelli for being even slightly excited about picking up a forfeit victory on Friday.
Zephyrhills has won four games on the field this season - half of last year's total - in a year marked by a frustrating run of injuries to the team's top players. This week's good news was that Tampa's Cambridge Academy used an ineligible catcher in beating the Bulldogs earlier this month, so Zephyrhills picked up win No. 5.
"They're young, and we knew they would be young this year, but they don't know how to win yet," Cimorelli said. "It's been frustrating, in that they're not mentally prepared for games, and some of them don't respond until you threaten to take things away from them."
Case in point: the Bulldogs could play their final game of the season Monday night when they host Mulberry in a play-in game for the Class 3A, District 10 tournament. Shoulder injuries took away the opportunity for Cimorelli to use his son, Jake, or another promising junior, Joe Duffau.
His next option would be senior Eric Bahr, who pitched the Bulldogs to their last win, April 3 against Wesley Chapel. But Bahr and brother Spencer, a freshman centerfielder, missed four games while they were out of town with their family during spring break. Cimorelli, following a team rule, suspended both for the first four games after they returned.
Senior Byron Stephens, who has two of the Bulldogs' four wins, could pitch against Mulberry, but he has been out with strep throat and had his worst outing of the season against the Panthers in an 11-3 loss in the district finale.
With all that, junior right-hander John Poe will make his third varsity start Monday in the district opener. He has fared well in his first two starts, both losses.
For all the frustrations, a Bulldogs win Monday is a real possibility. The first meeting against Mulberry was a 4-3 loss, and the Panthers were 0-6 against the rest of the district while Zephyrhills beat Wesley Chapel twice.
Monday's game is three days before Thursday's district semifinals, moved ahead because Bartow wisely scheduled its spring sports banquet for Tuesday night, when the game originally was scheduled to be played. If the Bulldogs can beat Mulberry, they would be on their home field again Thursday against top-seeded Bartow with a regional playoff berth on the line.
"We've had games where we're playing well, but it seems like we make one mistake and all heck breaks loose," Cimorelli said. "They've played pretty well when John has pitched, and he's done pretty well when he's had the chance."