Buccaneers end four-year slump

By ERIC MUSKATEVC
Published March 9, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - The win Rick Hohenthaner was waiting for was the same win his Gulf girls had been dreaming of for years. Thursday night on the road at River Ridge, Hohenthaner and the Bucs met that reality with a 9-5 win over the Royal Knights - their first in four years.

"It was definitely intense," said winning pitcher Amy Bushong (4-0), who went the distance, striking out three and allowing three earned runs.

Grabbing two second-inning runs to open scoring, the Bucs capped an equally productive top of the third with a towering 208-foot two-run home run from Stefanie Giannakaris, the first of her four-year career.

Down five, River Ridge (8-2) immediately loaded the bases in the third with consecutive singles from Michelle McKonly, Michelle Miller (2-for-4) and Shauna Ward. Jessica Tamburri added a single - the Knights got four of their nine total hits in the inning - and an error on the Bucs side brought in three runs and cut it to 5-3.

Amanda Gardner (2-for-4) connected on her second double of the night for the Bucs with two outs in the fourth inning, Devin Fellman (3-for-4) made it back-to-back doubles with her second of the night, and Jessica Santoli (2-for-4) finished off another three-run inning for Gulf (6-5), which never looked back.

"That was the quality win I've been waiting for," Hohenthaner said. "We've won some games and lost some games, but this was a quality team and a quality win, especially for the seniors."

Kelly Lamb and Sarah Simon were both 2-for-4 from the plate for River Ridge (8-2).

"They hit the ball really well and we made a bunch of errors," River Ridge coach Ernie Beck said.

[Last modified March 8, 2007, 23:54:19]