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Brannons power St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG - The Brannon battery packed enough punch to lead St. Petersburg (17-6) 5-0 over St. Petersburg Catholic (18-7).

Dale Brannon (5-3) pitched a three-hit, complete-game shutout and also scored the first run of the game, leading to a four-run third. Catcher Nolan Brannon reached base in all four plate appearances, singling twice, walking once and was hit.

In the top of the third, Dale Brannon walked, then stole second. Nolan Brannon's single to right scored Dale. Nolan went to second on the throw home. Barons pitcher David Burns intentionally walked Adam Recvlohe. Nolan Brannon stole third and Recvlohe stole second on the first pitch to Ryan Luker. Luker's sacrifice grounder to second scored Nolan Brannon.

Courtland Chambers followed by singling to right, scoring Recvlohe. Vincent Grasso's single advanced Chambers to second. What appeared to be a routine fly ball by Chris Huguet turned into a bloop single to left, scoring Chambers.

Burns struck out eight and allowed only five hits outside of the third inning.

"Our pitching was outstanding," St. Petersburg coach Stefan Futch said. "(SPC's) pitching was good, too. They just had one bad inning."

Shorecrest picked the wrong time for a slump. After winning seven of eight games, the Chargers have lost two straight, including an 8-4 loss to Berkeley Prep on Tuesday. With a win, Shorecrest could have shared the Bay Conference title. Coach Don Reed said he is concerned about the team as it prepares for districts.

"I was feeling really good, and then, all of a sudden, we lost a couple at the wrong time," Reed said. "We're playing well, we just picked a bad time to go into a slump."

Berkeley Prep jumped to a 4-0 lead, but the host Chargers (11-13) came back. Scott Mendelsohn smacked a two-run homer to cut the deficit to 4-2, then Matt Darr hit the first of his two doubles, scoring a run to make it 4-3. The Chargers kept it close until the Buccaneers scored three in the seventh to wrap it up.

Shorecrest ace Anthony Katchuk missed his start with a sore shoulder. Katchuk has seven wins and a 1.51 ERA, but Reed said he is expected to be ready for districts when the Chargers host Admiral Farragut on Monday.

Calvary Christian rolled over Lakeside Christian 33-9. The Warriors had 32 hits, including 10 bunt singles. Josh Mueller had six hits, all singles, and Nathan Kmet went 5-for-5 with a three-run double. Dave Penn had three hits, and Kyle Mullett added a pair of doubles.

Warriors coach Ken Kmet said he is feeling good about his team as districts approach.

"We're young, but we have a quality team," Ken Kmet said. "We can surprise anyone. I am cautiously optimistic."

P.K. Keller hit a tying grand slam homer in the bottom of the seventh inning, and Northside Christian won 7-6 over Palm Harbor University in the ninth.

The host Mustangs (17-6) trailed 6-2, but loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh when Keller went deep. Justin Murphy, who came on to pitch for Northside Christian in the fifth, kept Palm Harbor U. (14-9) off the board in extra innings until Kyle Mateer led off the bottom of the ninth with a single. He moved to third after two Palm Harbor errors, and scored when Palm Harbor barely missed completing an inning-ending double play.

The Mustangs play Bayshore Christian for the Bay Conference championship on Thursday.

"We're playing well right now after coming off a slump," Northside Christian coach Darrell Don said. "We're getting hot at the right time."

- JEFF BERLINICKE