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Ridgewood's loss to Land O'Lakes last week has the Gators and Pasco within one game of the Rams for the Sunshine Athletic Conference lead, setting up a season-ending showdown between Ridgewood and Pasco as a potential championship game.
Ridgewood (15-2, 9-1) has only two games left that count toward the conference standings: an April 20 game at Hudson and a home date with Pasco on April 30. Win both and the Rams repeat as conference champs.
Lose one, and the crown could be shared with either Land O'Lakes or Pasco, which have two SAC losses each.
The Rams' one-two, right-left punch of starters Erik Bua and Bryan Hesse has accounted for 12 of their 15 wins, but junior Jon Koenigsfeld has emerged as a solid third option in recent weeks.
Koenigsfeld (3-1) helped Ridgewood avenge last week's loss to Land O'Lakes when he went the distance in Tuesday's 2-1 win against the Gators.
In his first start, he took a perfect game into the fifth inning against Missouri's Parkway Central High last week and picked up another win in relief against Mitchell.
"He just comes in and gets it done," said coach Larry Beets, who said a key break was getting Gators slugger Caz Piurowski to ground into two double plays. "He made some key pitches, kept things inside, but (Gators starter Jeff) Bloomer also pitched well. He's going to be in a lot of good ballgames for them this year and in the next two years."
REMATCH TONIGHT: River Ridge (7-7) is 2-0 in Class 5A District 5 standings and can move closer to locking up the top seed and an automatic playoff berth with a district win tonight. The Knights play host to Mitchell, which is 0-2 in the three-team district but has won three of its last five games. Being assured of a spot in the playoffs is a plus, but Mustangs coach Phil Bell said there are advantages to playing in the district's lone semifinal, too.
"Everybody would like to be the one seed, but even then, you have to go all week without playing," Bell said. "You'd go from a Wednesday to the next Thursday without playing, and if you only have to win one game to get in the playoffs otherwise, that might give you a little more rhythm. But we want to beat River Ridge just because we need to win."
Mustangs outfielder and leadoff batter Louis Oliveri, who has played in only three games this season, is eligible to return from his second suspension stemming from a January arrest on a charge of burglary, but Bell said he won't play tonight. Instead, Bell will wait until next week to consider bringing the talented junior back into his lineup.
River Ridge (7-7) will start sophomore Curtis Reeves, who has been impressive since taking Gasparino's spot in the rotation last month. The Knights close out their district schedule April 16 at home against Land O'Lakes, where a win would clinch the Knights' first playoff berth since 1997 and the third in the school's 13-year history.
THIS AND THAT: Pasco senior Sonny Glover has been on fire since joining the Pirates two weeks ago. He has hits in seven of his first nine at-bats for a .778 average, and he's also walked five times for a ridiculous .857 on-base percentage. He's also won both of his starts on the mound, with a 1.45 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 9.2 innings. ... River Ridge ace Mike Gasparino returned to practice Tuesday after missing a month with a sprained knee. Gasparino opened the season impressively, going 2-0 with a 0.92 ERA and 23 strikeouts in his first three starts. He'll be available in relief tonight against Mitchell or could go for the Knights on Tuesday in a conference showdown with Pasco. ... Gulf, hoping to finish with momentum, took advantage of a week off between games to promote six players from the JV, including sophomore Nick Pasvantis, an outfielder who was batting over .500 for the Bucs.