By ROVEN YAU, STEVE FOLEY and ANTHONY GAGLIANO
Published July 20, 2003
OLDSMAR - Win, lose or draw.
It was that kind of day as the Section 7 tournament began and ended Saturday for some teams. District 6 came out on top as the bigger winner, taking three divisions.
In Major Baseball, Tampa Bay reached the state tournament by beating Northeast 5-2 and Clearwater 12-2. A two-run double in the first by Tampa Bay's Stevie Gonzalez gave the District 6 champs a lead against Northeast they did not relinquish.
Against Clearwater, Jimmy Pitisci hit his second homer of the day in the first off Sean O'Brien to start a barrage of runs. Tampa Bay chased O'Brien by scoring four in the third. Nicki Gimbrone and Dustin Sanford relieved, but Tampa Bay scored six more runs to end the game. Phillip Sipiora had three hits and scored twice, and Ian Collins and Pitisci scored three runs.
Conner Shimberg allowed three hits and struck out seven for Tampa Bay. O'Brien hit his second of two homers for the day in the fourth for Clearwater.
MINOR SOFTBALL: Citrus Park scored two runs in the fifth to beat Seminole 3-2. Nickie Hall's double scored Alexis Wilt to tie it. Later in the inning, Danielle DeLeon got an infield single then Chelsea Oglevie scored the go-ahead run after the ball glanced off the first baseman's glove.
JUNIOR SOFTBALL: Seminole was the only District 5 team to survive through Saturday. After losing to the District 6 All-Stars 2-1, Seminole defeated Safety Harbor 4-1. A three-run rally helped Safety Harbor defeat the District 6 All-Stars 7-6 and force a three-way playoff today. Safety Harbor won the coin toss and has a bye into the final. The District 6 All-Stars play Seminole at 1 p.m. with the final shortly after.
MAJOR SOFTBALL: Tampa Bay reached the state tournament by beating Cross Bayou 11-1 and Palm Harbor 14-0. A seven-run second off Cross Bayou's Allison Shirley aided Tampa Bay in its first victory. Kalya Suskauer and Courtney Croney combined for nine strikeouts.
Lizzy Mischo singled, doubled and tripled in Tampa Bay's shutout of Palm Harbor. Talia Barron had two hits. Jessica Gordon had two doubles, and Suskauer struck out seven.
MINOR BASEBALL: Bayshore tied it with two in the fifth then broke it open with a six-run sixth to beat Cross Bayou 8-2. Max Rowe's three-run double made it 7-2.
JUNIOR BASEBALL: Palm Harbor American clobbered Northwest 13-0 behind Taylor Tillung's two-hitter. Tillung also had three singles, a triple and two RBIs. Matt Mooney knocked in three runs with a double and a single to eliminate Northwest. But Palma Ceia, which earlier beat Northwest 17-2, won the title 16-7 against Palm Harbor American.
SENIOR BASEBALL: West Pasco toppled Pinellas Park National 12-4 behind a balanced offense. Cellen Neptune launched a 375-foot home run over the rightfield fence on the first pitch of the second and later added a run-scoring single for West Pasco. Winning pitcher Jeff Roxby had two run-scoring singles, scoring both times. West Pasco then beat Citrus Park 15-4 in the final.
