'Canes edge Eagles in pitchers duel

Jeff Ludlow shuts down East Lake, giving up two hits to lead Palm Harbor U. to a 2-0 win over East Lake.

By ERIC MUSKATEVC
Published March 30, 2005

EAST LAKE - Jeff Ludlow put Palm Harbor U. right where it wants to be: above .500 for the first time in a month and with a win to start the unofficial second half of the season.

Ludlow took a no-hitter in the sixth and threw a complete game two-hitter in defeating East Lake 2-0 on Tuesday.

"This gave us a lot of momentum for the next couple of weeks," said PHU coach Tony Ferreira, a former Eagles assistant, after facing East Lake for the first time.

"I told the guys to erase the first half of the season. This is when it counts."

East Lake (9-4) ended the first half on top, but with Class 5A, District 9 rivals Dunedin (9-2) and Clearwater (8-2) playing well, no one is in the driver's seat.

"The whole point of high school baseball is to be ready May1," East Lake coach Lee Byers said of the district tournament.

"We have five weeks to start hitting."

Ludlow (3-2) struck out five and walked four for PHU (6-5).

East Lake's Shawn Kale, a sophomore, was equally impressive.

Kale (3-1) held PHU to two hits and struck out five (with one walk) through five innings but was responsible for the game's two runs in the sixth.

Vinnie Gigliotti and Bryan Torok hit consecutive singles followed by a walk to Andrew Moltz to load the bases.

Travis McSweeney relieved Kale, but Tim Kiley drew a walk on the next at-bat that scored Gigliotti.

Cory Glass followed with a dribbler that went for a hit and scored Torok.

"The key to the game was when Gigliotti reacted to a ball in the dirt and took third base in the sixth inning," Ferreira said. "He got us out of a force situation. It's smart, heads-up plays like that that are going to really help us down this stretch."

Ludlow's no-hitter was broken up in the sixth on Michael Papa's leadoff single. Brett Foley also singled during the inning but did not score.

[Last modified March 30, 2005, 01:04:14]