BROOKSVILLE - For now, the historic aspect of Nature Coast Tech's first game Monday will be hard to see after Ridgewood handed the Sharks a 21-0 loss in the first round of the Tom Varn Invitational.
The immediate goal is to get better and make it through a full seven innings. The Sharks' second chance comes today against Central, which lost at home to Pasco 7-6 in the tournament nightcap.
"We're a young team, but give us two or three years, we'll be all right," third baseman Terry Meaney said. "The first game, it was a little rough."
With his fourth-inning single, Meaney added extra significance to the game by recording the Sharks' first hit. He also walked in the first inning for the school's first baserunner. Meaney, who recently moved from Long Island, N.Y., is the only Shark out of the 12 on the roster with varsity experience. Three others have played junior varsity.
"They're a little overmatched right now," Sharks coach Dan Garifano said. "But by the time they're seniors, they'll have 75 games of varsity experience."
The Rams (1-0) took advantage of two walks and two errors to score five in the second for a 6-0 lead. Shortstop Jeff Roxby capitalized with a two-run triple, then knocked in another run in the third with a double. Ridgewood score seven more in that inning, including back-to-back RBI singles from Joe Moll and Shannon Eva before Roxby's double.
Roxby finished with three RBIs and three runs scored. Batting behind Roxby, John Racener went 0-for-0 officially, scoring twice on walks and driving in two runs with a pair of sacrifice flies.
"I've been there before, when we started this program with eighth-, ninth- and 10th-graders," Ridgewood coach Larry Beets said. "It's going to be a tough season, but that's how it goes when you start off from scratch."
Pasco scratched out a one-run victory against Central thanks to catcher Casey Karppe's offense and Robbie Shields' two scoreless innings of relief.
Karppe played a flawless first game, going 3-for-3 plus a walk, driving in three runs and scoring twice. Shields threw a perfect sixth, then got a double play in the seventh to end the game.
The Pirates (1-0) built a 7-3 lead after three runs in the third and three more in the fourth, highlighted by Karppe's two-run single. Cory Filley grounded to short on the next pitch, but the throw skipped into the dugout, bringing home the seventh and decisive run.
Central chipped away, scoring a run in the fourth without the benefit of a hit. Three walks, a hit batter and a sacrifice fly got the Bears closer.
Jake Meadors tripled to open the fifth, Eric Paul walked and Jason Nicolini grounded out to score a run. Anthony Morana's two-out single closed the margin to one.
That's when Shields entered and saved the victory. Pasco and Ridgewood meet in the second round at Central on Wednesday.
