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Mitchell's first loss might be a wake-up call

By STEVE LEE
Published March 16, 2005

Two season-opening streaks ended last week when Mitchell lost for the first time and Hudson notched its first victory.

On Thursday, Pasco (6-2) became the first team to beat Mitchell, a 4-0 win dropping the Mustangs to 9-1. That gave the Pirates, who lost their first two games, a six-game winning streak.

"We're trying to sneak up on some people," Pasco assistant Lisa Herndon said, adding that the Pirates' run "would be nice to continue."

Pasco freshman Brianne Farmer pitched a two-hit shutout, striking out three and walking one.

"We just didn't hit the ball and we didn't hit the ball hard," Mitchell coach Scott Bisbe said.

Mitchell hosted Class 5A, District 5 rival River Ridge on Tuesday, but results were not available at press time. Bisbe said he hoped the loss to Pasco would serve as a wake-up call.

"They know now if we don't go out and play, you can lose on any given night," he said.

Hudson (1-6) broke a tie at 7 against Gulf on Friday by scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 9-7 win.

Gulf, which at 3-6 has one more win than in the previous three seasons combined, lost when Hudson staged a late rally. Danielle Finnimore singled and scored on Jill Heise's triple. Heise raced home on Gabrielle Ober's single.

"I think it relieved a lot of stress and a lot of tension that everybody's feeling," Hudson first-year coach Chrissy Martin said.

Perhaps no one could relate more to the Cobras' plight than Gulf coach Rick Hohenthaner, whose team was coming off its first two-game winning streak since 2001.

"I've been in Chrissy's shoes," Hohenthaner said. "I know what she's going through."

Hudson pitchers Aly Towne and Heise combined on a four-hitter.

Offensively, the Cobras erupted for a single-game high of 14 hits and capitalized on Gulf's four errors. Courtney Law had a game-high four hits with Hudson teammates Sara Hampshire, Finnimore and Heise each adding two hits.

"Everything we did right for two games, we did wrong Friday," Hohenthaner said. "Everything we threw up there, they hit."

Gulf bounced back with a rally of its own in Monday's 7-5 win at Land O'Lakes. Trailing 5-3, the Bucs scored four in the top of the seventh.

Stefani Giannakaris led off that inning with a double, "then it was open the floodgates," Hohenthaner said.

Aimee Hayes, who had three hits and two RBIs, hit a run-scoring double in the seventh and Julie Wisniewski and Whitetree added RBI singles. Junior varsity call-up Samantha Vrbancic scored the final run when Casey Soltys reached on an error.

Shauna Whitetree, who followed Rachael Staggs and Carly Mountain on the mound, pitched 22/3 of scoreless relief for the win.

[Last modified March 16, 2005, 01:32:17]