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Northwest ace keeps pace with his brother

By DOUG KATES
Published July 12, 2006

SEMINOLE - Early in the District 5 Senior Boys All-Star Tournament, David Staton saw first hand how to throw a no-hitter. He was the catcher as his brother, Keith, achieved the feat.

Tuesday night in the district championship, David put that experience to work for himself. He threw his first career no-hitter as Northwest blanked Seminole 10-0 in six innings. David allowed two walks and a hit batter, and the defense committed no errors. Ten of the outs were fly balls.

"He did a heck of a job," said coach Tom Staton, who was also the proud father. "The defense was great."

Northwest led 9-0 after four innings. In the sixth, Tommy Sullivan came off the bench to launch a hard double into leftfield. He knocked in the final run.

Mark Dana had a double and a single for Northwest. David and Keith each had two singles.

MAJOR GIRLS: Pinellas Park pitcher Haley Ledford allowed five walks and two hit batters in her first inning of work during the District 5 championship at Seminole.

Despite falling behind 4-1, Ledford never gave up. Twice coach Bob Klinesmith went to the mound to chat with his young pitcher. Both times Ledford asked to stay in.

In the end, Ledford and her teammates overcame the three-run deficit and defeated Northeast 15-5 for the championship. Ledford finished with a one-hitter and four strikeouts.

Klinesmith credited the offense for doing most of the damage. He said his girls outscored their opponents 58-17 for the tournament.

MAJOR BASEBALL: Seminole completed an undefeated sweep through the tournament, defeating Northeast 3-1 to win the district championship at Northeast Stadium. Seminole, which started five 11-year-olds, was the youngest team in the 11-12 tournament. But manager Ira Berman said he saw no signs of intimidation.

"These 11-year-olds were voted on and they deserved to be there," Berman said. "They stepped up big time and molded with the 12-year-olds."

Seminole's calling card throughout the four-game tournament was stellar defense. Seminole didn't make an infield error during that stretch and allowed just one passed ball.

Michael Mann struck out 10 in a complete-game victory. Mann, who won both starts during the tournament, fanned 20 and gave up one run in 12 postseason innings.

Seminole got all the offense it needed in the top of the fourth inning. Jordan Doyle drove a two-out fastball over the centerfield fence for a three-run homer.

Seminole advances to the July 22 sectional tournament at Northside Little League in Tampa.

JUNIOR BASEBALL: Cody Nowakowski belted a grand slam to lead Pinellas Park National to a come-from-behind 6-5 win against Seminole at Northeast Little League for the district title.

Trailing by a run with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Ricky Staton, Justin Warren and Cody Arnold singled to load the bases. Nowakowski then connected on his second home run of the postseason for a 6-3 lead.

Craig Schafer and Noelie Thomas accounted for PPN's other RBIs. Donnie Norris struck out five to pick up the complete-game win.

PPN next plays in the sectional tournament July 22 at Northside Little League in Tampa.

Times staff writer Brandon Wright contributed to this report.

[Last modified July 12, 2006, 06:57:40]