Lancers make it a dozen in a row

By JUSTIN DARGAHI
Published April 22, 2006

TAMPA - Tampa Baptist made a district final for the first time and it showed Friday against perennial powerhouse Cambridge.

The Lancers (18-4) never let the Rams into the game, winning 14-0 for their 12th consecutive district title. The game was called after five innings.

"We just had to make sure we didn't let our game slip," said senior Kayla Adams, who scored three runs. "We know if we play like we can, we will be fine."

Cambridge starting pitcher Alexis Caruso dominated the Rams (5-12) in four innings of work. She struck out five, allowed just two hits and walked none. Jessica Kessel pitched a scoreless fifth and added three hits and two RBIs.

The Lancers scored four in the first after the first four batters reached base. They added three more in the second and put the game away with a seven-run third, including an inside-the-park home run by Valerie Kessel.

But Cambridge knows it has a long way to go.

"We just played as a team and got it done," Kessel said. "But we know we have a lot of work to do to get where we want to."

Austin Peay signee Brittany Williams added a couple of singles and two RBIs and Mackenzie Vidonic had three hits and two RBIs.

BRADENTON - You could hear Ashton Whidden's voice across the field. You couldn't make out what she was saying, but she definitely wasn't wishing catcher Kelsey Falcone a happy birthday, though those sentiments would come later. In the middle of the fourth inning of a scoreless game, Whidden gathered her Saint Stephen's teammates around her in the dugout and basically said, ""wake up!" She left her teammates with this challenge: "We're 20-0, now play like it."

Then Whidden lined a one-out single to centerfield and scored what would be the winning run as Saint Stephen's beat Tampa Prep 7-0. Friday's win gave the Falcons, ranked first in Class 2A, their third straight district championship and for a team that won 17 of its first 20 games this season by 10 runs or more, it wasn't easy.

Saint Stephen's rolled past sixth-ranked Tampa Prep (20-5) twice in the regular season, but Friday was different. Terps pitcher Brittany Young held the Falcons to just two singles through the first three innings.

Rightfielder Stephanie Boothby turned in the defensive play of the game in the sixth with a diving, back-handed catch of a sinking line drive that killed a Tampa Prep rally.

The big inning was highlighted by a two-run single by first baseman Jessica Ashley and an RBI single by centerfielder Cassidy Whidden. All that remained was for Boothby, Jenny Waters and their fellow senior, leftfielder Christine Adler, to collect another district trophy, and for the team to wish Falcone a happy 17th birthday with chocolate cupcakes.

[Last modified April 22, 2006, 01:39:14]