Sports

Terriers hold off pesky Dragons to reach semis

By BRYAN BURNS
Published March 23, 2006

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TAMPA - Hillsborough pounded out 10 hits - seven for extra bases - and scored runs in five of six innings to defeat Jefferson 12-8 on Wednesday at the University of Tampa.

The Terriers (14-2) led the entire way, but didn't pull away until the fifth inning when they put five runs on the board.

In that inning, Orlando Bacon (2-for-2, two doubles) scored on a passed ball, Marco LaMonte singled home a run, Chris Ramirez doubled home two more, then later scored on an error.

"We've got some seniors that really want to play on Friday," Hillsborough coach Pat Russo said, referring to the Saladino championship. "My guys have been ready for this all week."

Hillsborough got on the board first on Casey Nunez's two RBI double in the first inning. Nunez added another double in the third, bringing home two more.

Victor Zamora hit a towering homer to leftfield in the second to give Hillsborough a 3-0 lead.

"Our one through nine hitters can all hit, and our pitching's been unbelievable," Nunez said. "Even when we come out flat, we're still good."

Jefferson (7-9) got two runs in the third to cut Hillsborough's lead to one on David Regidor's RBI double. Regidor came home later on a wild pitch. Jefferson added a run in the fifth and, trailing 12-3, got five in the seventh.

Durant 7, Robinson 4

TAMPA - Heading into the quarterfinals, Durant was the Saladino Tournament's most prolific team on offense. The Cougars had scored 27 runs entering their matchup with Robinson, and they didn't disappoint on Wednesday - but it did take some time.

Durant used a five-run sixth inning to come from behind and top Robinson. "Our bats have really come alive for us," Durant coach Ron Fussell said. "Our first three batters have just been on fire. They're all coming up with big hits."

But early on, Robinson had the big hits and made the key plays.

The Knights ignored all the Durant hype and promptly grabbed a 1-0 lead when Steven Evarts singled in Eugene Garnett in the top of the first inning. The game stayed that way until the fifth when Robinson's Alex Floyd singled, stole second, went to third on an errant pick-off attempt, then stole home.

Everything appeared to be in the Knights' favor with a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning. But that's when Durant's heralded bats woke up. The Cougars pounded out five hits, all with two outs, including doubles from Chip Bowden and Carmine Giardina and a two-run home run from Jeremy Fussell.

When the dust settled, the Cougars led 5-2. But the Knights made one last offensive push, getting a two-RBI double from Shane Scanlon in the top of the sixth to narrow the score to 5-4. Durant quickly responded with two runs in its side of the sixth to complete the scoring. Durant's Bowden, Fussell and Giardina combined for five hits and six RBIs.

"This was a good win for us and it really sets us up nice for (today)," Fussell said. "We'll have our No. 1 (Giardina) on the mound."

- ROD GIPSON, Times correspondent

Bloomingdale 3, King 1

TAMPA - Senior right-hander Caleb Payne pitched a complete-game six-hitter, and Derek Hirsch went 3-for-3 as Bloomingdale defeated King.

Payne (3-1) yielded a first-inning run, then threw shutout ball the rest of the way. He struck out seven, walked three and threw 59 of 98 pitches for strikes.

Hirsch tied it at 1 with a two-out triple in the fourth, scoring Ryan Bauer. Bloomingdale (10-6) went ahead 2-1 in the fifth as Michael Green scored an unearned run on a Tommy Reed single off Joe Cole (2-3). Green's two-out bunt single in the sixth plated Bauer with an insurance run.

"Caleb did a nice job and our outfielders did a nice job of running some balls down," Bloomingdale coach K.B. Skull said. "We didn't make any errors; it was a good game for us."

King (10-6) threatened in the sixth by getting the first two batters on base, but Payne escaped the jam on his next two pitches: a flyball out and a double-play grounder to shortstop Rolando Lopez.

- DON JENSEN, Times correspondent

Wharton 7, Chamberlain 4

TAMPA - Wharton and Chamberlain were 6-6 and 5-5, respectively, before this week started, then the Wildcats and Chiefs started playing like two of the county's best teams.

Not only did the Wildcats and Chiefs have 3-0 tournament records entering Wednesday's quarterfinal, but they had played through a couple of the tournament's most dramatic games: Chamberlain collecting just one hit but still beating Armwood 1-0; and Wharton beating Gaither 6-5 late Tuesday night on a three-run homer in the last inning.

Wednesday's 10 a.m. matchup wasn't as dramatic as all that as Wharton continued swinging the bats well, collecting 11 hits .

"They got up on us early (3-0 after two innings; 4-0 after four) and made it tough (to come back)," Chamberlain coach Dick Rohrberg said. "We were one hit away from getting something going a couple of times but we couldn't make it happen."

- SCOTT PURKS, Times staff writer

[Last modified March 23, 2006, 02:30:12]

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