Zephyrhills, freshman topple Land O'Lakes

By FRANK PASTOR
Published April 19, 2006

LAND O'LAKES - In his first varsity start, freshman pitcher Austin Adams shut down Land O'Lakes' potent offense on Tuesday, lifting visiting Zephyrhills to a 3-2 victory.

Adams, a junior varsity callup who had thrown only sporadically in relief, limited Land O'Lakes to five hits over 42/3 innings before giving way to T.J. Jeffries.

"It's a big help, because now I know I can compete with one of the best lineups in the county," Adams said. The left-hander struck out three while allowing three walks and two hit batsman. Mike Davis had a two-run single, and Phillip Robichaud's single drove home Geoff Parker with the winning run.

"It was good for us, because it's going into the playoffs," said Zephyrhills coach Bruce Cimorelli, whose squad won for the fifth time in six games to improve to 13-10. "For some reason, we always play Land O'Lakes tough." Land O'Lakes (20-4) dropped its first game in nine despite 12 strikeouts from Jono Cornelius. The senior left-hander allowed two earned runs on seven hits and one walk in seven innings.

"He threw great," Land O'Lakes coach Calvin Baisley said. "He shouldn't have lost that game."

Davis' two-out single to right gave Zephyrhills a 2-1 lead in the fifth. Ricky Howroyd's single in the bottom of the inning tied the score, but Robichaud put the Bulldogs ahead to stay with a bouncer over shortstop Danny Sutton's glove with two outs in the sixth to score Parker. Parker reached when Howroyd dropped a third strike and threw wildly to first.

Relying on curveballs low and away and fastballs high and inside, Adams limited Caz Piurowski to a run-scoring groundout in the first. Piurowski, who set a county home run record with 17, walked twice and was hit by a pitch.

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