River Ridge rallies, meets Gators next

By STEVE LEE
Published April 19, 2006

NEW PORT RICHEY - River Ridge's 7-4 win over Ridgewood in Tuesday's district semifinal was hardly a piece of cake.

The host Royal Knights scored six runs in the sixth inning for a 7-4 comeback win and return to the playoffs after a one-year absence, which followed three straight state appearances.

River Ridge (14-10) advances to Thursday's district final against Land O'Lakes, a 17-2 winner over Central.

The Knights chased coach Ernie Beck in the outfield and smeared his face with cake after rallying against Ridgewood. The cake, with one piece missing, was made by winning pitcher Nicole Denney's mother.

"We told them if we beat Ridgewood we'd let them eat (the cake) in the middle of the infield," said Beck, but the players had other ideas.

River Ridge trailed 4-1 but loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth. Kelly Lamb, Casey Soltys and Michelle Miller each hit run-scoring singles. Michelle McKonly and Meghan Chaple added sacrifice flys and the Knights capitalized on two Ridgewood errors in that inning.

Ridgewood (14-9) snapped a tie at 1 with three runs in the third, highlighted by Kristine Petrizzi's two-run single. Jenn Miskell's RBI single gave the Rams a 1-0 lead in the first before McKonly's RBI single in the second tied it.

Land O'Lakes (15-4) scored all of its runs in the first three innings and won in five by the 10-run mercy rule.

The Gators had 12 hits, including two Jessica Tejas doubles and one by Alex Carroll.

Like River Ridge, Land O'Lakes lost in a district semifinal last season. The Knights and Gators are in the playoffs with Thursday's outcome determining home-field advantage for a region quarterfinal next week.

"I'm just really looking forward, knowing this clinched a spot to go to regionals," Land O'Lakes coach Jamie Martin said. "Right now, we're just fighting for that home-field advantage."

Land O'Lakes beat River Ridge twice this season, including once by 10 runs.

A promising season ended Tuesday for Seven Rivers. The Warriors lost 7-2 to Ocala St. John.

"We just needed a few more base hits in a row and we would have had that game," first-year coach Jackie Iwaniec said.

Still, third-seeded Seven Rivers (7-7-1) finished with the best record in its seven-year history.

"Everybody got real enthused about winning and believing they could win," Iwaniec said.

The team loses just one senior, Megan Olive, and Iwaniec said she is excited about next season.

"The girls are looking forward to it," she said.

Also, host Hernando Christian beat Cedar Key 11-1 to advance to Thursday's final at 4 p.m.

- BRIAN SUMERS, Times staff writer

[Last modified April 19, 2006, 01:59:13]