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TAMPA - Ryan Strauss tossed a shutout to lead Bloomingdale (10-2) past Chamberlain 3-0 on Tuesday and into the Saladino Tournament quarterfinals.
Strauss was dominant, surrendering two hits while striking out nine, including at least one each inning. The senior right-hander walked one and faced only one batter over the minimum.
"(Strauss) was sharp tonight," Bloomingdale coach K.B. Scull said. "When he only walks one and we don't make any errors, we're in pretty good shape."
The game was shaping up to be a battle between two of the area's best pitchers. As good as Strauss looked, Steven Howard of the Chiefs (9-3) wasn't far behind. Howard scattered seven singles, matched Strauss with nine strikeouts and gave up one earned run. Howard also got the only two hits off Strauss and stole a base.
"Howard is a heckuva athlete," Scull said. "He threw great and really kept us off-balance."
Daniel Payne put the Bulls ahead 1-0 in the second when he drove an 0-2 fastball into rightfield scoring Jeff Simpson. Payne struck again in the sixth, driving in Brett Morris and Paul McClay with a sharp single to centerfield.
Also, Lamar Jackson of East Bay (2-8) singled with one out in the seventh to spoil Newsome freshman right-hander Eric Ginn's no-hit bid, but the Wolves (3-10) hung on for a 1-0 win. Ryan Mitchell drove home the game's only run with a sacrifice fly in the second.