Raven notches first flawless outing

By JOEY KNIGHT
Published March 9, 2007

TAMPA - The north Pasco County air was more crisp than cold, the sky was cloudless and the infield clay had been watered to an ideal texture.

For Alonso pitcher Alex Panteliodis, Tuesday was a night for perfect baseball.

The Ravens' No. 2 starter delivered - among other things - what is believed to be the first perfect game in school history Tuesday at Mitchell, striking out 11 of the 15 he faced in a five-inning, 14-0 romp.

When asked what was working for the junior right-hander 3-0, Alonso coach Landy Faedo was about as concise as Panteliodis' effort.

"Everything," Faedo said.

That was just in reference to his work on the mound. At the plate, Panteliodis hit two home runs and collected seven RBIs.

CATFIGHT IN 5A-10: Plant, which seemed in control of the Class 5A, District 10 race only four days ago, now could find itself in danger of falling into third place tonight.

The Panthers (6-1, 5-1) travel to Middleton (6-1, 5-1), which likely will throw right-handed ace Nevin Griffith. A likely major league draftee, Griffith fanned 12 Hillsborough batters in a 6-1 victory last week.

Plant fell to Hillsborough (7-1, 6-1) 17-10 on Tuesday, committing seven errors that offset its 14 hits.

"I don't think people realize we're still a pretty young team; we only have two seniors on our team," Panthers coach Dennis Braun said after the loss. "We'll start learning some things about how to approach the game and life in general."

POWERBALL: Plant junior Preston Tucker's two-homer, six-RBI game Tuesday against Hillsborough was the second such effort by a Panthers player in five days. Jarod Womack, batting an astounding .778 (14-for-18), did it in Friday's 17-1 rout of Jefferson.

The Panthers, who have 12 home runs this year, would have to slightly improve their long-ball pace - and advance well into the postseason - to challenge the state-record 63 hit by Zephyrhills in 34 games in 2000.

KORHN TO BE HONORED: Former Hillsborough County athletic director Vernon Korhn will be honored by the county's public-school baseball coaches before King's 7 p.m. home game March 29 against Tampa Bay Tech. Korhn will be honored at a private social 90 minutes before the game, then throw out the first pitch.

All the county's coaches are expected to attend, dressed in their game uniforms.

AROUND THE HORN: After winning four of its first five, King (4-4, 3-3) is mired in a three-game skid entering tonight's 5A-8 game at Wharton (5-1, 4-1). "We're struggling defensively," said coach Jim Macaluso, whose club committed four errors in a 5-1 loss Tuesday to Bloomingdale. "We're giving four- and five-out innings, and last time I checked, you only get three outs an inning." ... Jacob Linsky's two-out, two-run triple on a line drive in the bottom of the seventh rallied Berkeley Prep (8-3, 4-1) to a 3-2 home victory Tuesday against 3A-11 rival Tampa Catholic (4-2-1, 3-2). The victory avenged a loss, by the same score, to the Crusaders a week before. "It was sweet redemption, no doubt about it," coach Justin Houston said.

Joey Knight can be reached at jknight @sptimes.com or (813) 226-3350.

[Last modified March 9, 2007, 00:44:00]