Cuda puts Crusaders in first final

Ace shuts down Titusville Temple Christian in Canterbury's 4-0 victory.

By EMERY SKOLFIELD
Published May 6, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - More than a one-dimensional power pitcher, Canterbury sophomore Joey Cuda tries to be crafty, mixing speeds and forcing opposing hitters to guess.

Then again, sometimes you just have to bring the heat.

Cuda did plenty of that Friday night, torching Titusville Temple Christian for 13 strikeouts and pulling the Crusaders to their first-ever region final with a 4-0 victory.

"I'm not sure exactly how hard I was throwing, but I was bringing it," said Cuda, a stout right-hander who struck out every batter in Temple Christian's lineup at least once and fanned two batters in each inning but the fifth.

Cuda (10-2), who earlier this season tossed a five-inning perfect game in which he struck out every batter, allowed only two hits and one walk. It was the second straight shutout for Canterbury (25-3), which has yielded only 39 runs this season while scoring 301.

The Crusaders, ranked No. 2 in Class A, will play the winner of today's Sarasota Christian-Port St. Lucie Morningside game Tuesday night. Cuda gave himself a boost in the bottom of the first inning, belting a run-scoring single to centerfield. And while Canterbury didn't score again until the fifth inning, the game never seemed in doubt after Cuda's RBI.

"That made my job as a pitcher a little easier," Cuda said. "It was nice to get a run to work with."

Mitchell Todd's ground-rule double in the fifth provided the Crusaders' second run, and Canterbury added two in the inning - one on an error and another on Kurt Lancaster's sacrifice fly - to pad the lead.

"This wasn't the same team I've seen all season," said Temple Christian coach Micah Rockwell, whose team finished 18-7. "We just weren't geared up to play."

Temple Christian's Jared Hallock (6-6) was tagged with the loss, allowing five hits and four runs - none earned - in 41/3 innings. He struck out six.

Todd scored two runs for Canterbury.

[Last modified May 6, 2006, 02:15:18]