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District baseball race tight

Armwood and Bloomingdale are undefeated in Class 5A, District 8.

By BRYAN BURNS
Published March 2, 2007

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: Armwood and Bloomingdale have jumped out in front of the Class 5A, District 8 race with three victories each in their first three league games.

Armwood has outscored district foes 20-3 in victories over Tampa Bay Tech, Brandon and Wharton. Senior pitcher Bobby Bolling has been stellar on the mound for the Hawks.

In 10 innings, Bolling has yet to allow a run. He also has 17 strikeouts and a 2-0 record.

With nine RBIs in the Bulls' first five games, senior third baseman Derek Hirsch has supplied the bulk of the offense for Bloomingdale in its district wins over Freedom, Tampa Bay Tech and Newsome.

Senior pitcher Zach Pietrzyk has pitched two complete games, winning both and allowing just one earned run in each.

Armwood and Bloomingdale meet March 9 in what figures to be a pivotal matchup in the race for the district championship.

Durant, which opened district play with three straight victories, is an early leader in its district. The Cougars are led by second baseman Taed Moses, who is batting .533 and has a team-high five RBIs. Senior pitcher Josh Teplitzky has a 2-0 record with a 0.72 ERA.

SOFTBALL: Plant City's Terra Hutcheson has been swinging a healthy bat for the Raiders early this season. The senior infielder is leading Class 6A, District 8 in batting with an .846 average and has a least two hits in each game, helping propel Plant City to the top of the league standings. In their first five games, the Raiders have recorded two shutouts and outscored their opponents 37-9.

Also in 6A-8, defending district champion Durant is starting where it left off last season with five straight victories to open the season to keep pace with Plant City. Junior Sara Demuth has been a major contributor so far for the Cougars. The pitcher and first baseman has started all five games for Durant and earned a victory in four of them - including two complete games - while maintaining a 0.81 ERA.

Demuth has also been getting the job done at the plate. Her .429 batting average is fourth on the team, and she has team-high totals in RBIs (8) and home runs (3).

The standings are a bit jumbled in Class 5A, District 8 with four teams - Newsome, Bloomingdale, Wharton and Freedom - all at the top with one district loss.

Bloomingdale won its first three district games to take the initial lead before losing to Newsome on Feb. 23. In that game, Newsome scored four runs in the second inning to go ahead 5-3 and held on for the victory.

Freedom started the year 0-3 - including an 8-6 loss to district rival Bloomingdale - and was shut out in two of those losses before exploding for 40 runs in district victories over Wharton (19-2) and King (21-4).

The Patriots travel to Newsome tonight in a game that could go a long way in clearing up the district race.

BASKETBALL: Six area players were invited to play in the Tampa Boys Basketball Coaches Association All-Star game at Tampa Prep.

Joining the Eastern All-Stars roster are Jason Anthony (Armwood), Justin Gist (Newsome), Jeremy Jackson (Brandon), Rudy Jean (East Bay), Jeff Knight (Plant City) and Rashad Simmons (Bloomingdale). Those six, along with four other players from Eastern county schools, will play the Western All-Star squad on March 16 before taking on the Pinellas All-Stars on March 17.

[Last modified March 1, 2007, 12:07:07]