A 17-5 mercy-rule win gives the Bucs a two-game sweep against Hudson.
By GREG AUMAN
Published April 14, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - Gulf has seen too many leads slip away in the late innings this season, but Tuesday night, the Bucs found a good way to avoid such a slide: Avoid such innings.
Gulf vented a season's worth of batting frustrations, exploding for 17 hits for its first home win and handing a reeling Hudson team a 17-5 mercy-rule loss in five innings.
"We needed a breakout game like this," said Gulf coach Shaun Wiemer, whose team completed a two-game sweep of the Cobras and improved to 3-13, 2-6 in Class 4A District 10. "All the frustration had built up, because not a lot of things have gone our way this year. You have to earn your breaks though, and we did that tonight."
Five Bucs had two or more hits, including rightfielder Craig Soltys, who had a two-run home run and a two-run single to bookend the scoring in an eight-run third inning. Junior Blaise Simon had a run-scoring single in the first, then a double and run-scoring single in the third, and found the bases loaded when he stepped up to bat in the fifth. His grand slam to leftfield gave Gulf a 17-1 lead and even more confidence to carry over to the final stretch of the season.
"We've been getting it handed to us pretty bad this year, so it feels good to give it to someone else," said Simon, whose last home run was a preseason grand slam against Hudson.
Wiemer said the key was his batters staying off curveballs and hitting strikes. Starter Kevin Fagan (1-2) held Hudson to two singles in the first four innings before giving up four unearned runs in the fifth.
Hudson (5-12, 2-6) has lost five in a row, all by at least six runs and three by the 10-run mercy rule.
"There really aren't many things we're doing particularly well," Ledbetter said. "It's everything, dropped popups, pitchers getting behind on every count, and you can't win doing that."
Billy Dickert had two of Hudson's three RBIs, hitting a sacrifice fly in the third and a two-out single in the fifth. Starter Mike Georgantas (1-4) gave up eight hits and seven runs before leaving in the third.
Both teams will try to find some positive momentum in the next two weeks before the district tournament begins, but Gulf was the one heading in the right direction Tuesday.
"They're showing us, with their play and their attitudes, that we still have a lot to play for this season," said Wiemer, whose team had three home runs in 15 games before hitting two Tuesday. "They're definitely not throwing in the towel. As bad as we've been beat this year, these kids have come out day in and day out and worked this hard, and that makes me feel good about this team."
