Talent fills Senior All-Star roster

By JAMAL THALJI
Published July 6, 2004

NEW PORT RICHEY - The District 12 tournament for the West Pasco Senior Baseball All-Stars kicks off today at the Englebert Complex in Dunedin.

But the way manager Randy Koenigsfeld sees it, his team should be more than ready. The All-Stars are loaded with local high school talent.

"We should be pretty competitive," he said.

The team has standouts from Ridgewood such as sophomore Ben Koenigsfeld at second base, junior Jeff Roxby at shortstop, junior Curtis Reeves pitching and playing third base, junior Mike Lemming pitching and playing first base, junior leftfielder Eric Slaughter and junior catcher Matt Beck. From River Ridge, West Pasco can count on junior pitcher Scott Bookwalter.

"We have seven returners from last year's all-star team, and we came within a game of the state finals so we're hoping to do some things this year," Randy Koenigsfeld said. "We were young last year, so these guys are back again."

Lemming will start today for a team rich in pitching.

"We've got about five, six pitchers that can throw in a short tournament," Koenigsfeld said.

WEST PASCO JUNIOR BASEBALL: A short but tough season ended for West Pasco in the District 12 tournament in Dunedin. The All-Stars fells 6-5 to Tarpon Springs in 12 innings Saturday and was eliminated after going 1-3 in pool play.

"The team showed a lot of heart and played very tough baseball," manager Bill Phillips said. "We just came up a little bit short on the scoreboard. But the guys played really well."

So did the opposition. West Pasco's season started with a 5-1 loss to Largo and an 11-10 loss to Countryside. Following a 13-4 win over Dunedin came Saturday's heartbreak, a marathon that began at 11:15 a.m. and went until 4 p.m.

A.J. Galdieux belted a two-run single in the fourth to break a 2-all tie and give West Pasco a 4-2 lead. Pitchers Bryan Sharpe and Kurt Holt were tough, with Sharpe pitching the first seven innings and Holt taking on the last five.

But Tarpon Springs tied it in the sixth when West Pasco gave up a walk and a stolen base, and the runners scored on a base hit. Six innings later, Tarpon Springs came up with a base hit, a stolen base and a walk. A ground ball that scooted up the middle doomed West Pasco.

WEST PASCO MAJOR BASEBALL: The difference between advancing and staying home: five runs.

The West Pasco Major All-Stars won their district opener 1-0 over Tarpon Springs at East Lake with Chris Caskey on the mound. The team lost to Clearwater 5-2 and Dunedin 2-0 on Saturday.

"The boys did well," manager Kevin Maguiresaid. "But we killed ourselves on the basepaths. We had a lot of guys miss signs and not pick up bases. We ran ourselves out of innings."

Maguire said it was a blown call against Dunedin that hurt most.

"There was a force play at second; we threw the guy out by 10 feet," Maguire said. "He was called safe."

That would have been the third out. Instead, Dunedin drove a double into deep left center that scored runners at first and second.

"You hate to see those kind of things help determine something like this," Maguire said. "But it's all part of (the game.)"

Catcher Mike Alford was praised for the way he backstopped West Pasco's pitchers, as was pitcher Kevin Toce.

"(Alford) saved a multitude of runners from going into scoring position," Maguire said. "(Toce) pitched a great ball game. He pitched good enough to win."

[Last modified July 5, 2004, 21:59:05]