Solid pitching leads Tampa Catholic to win

By JOEY KNIGHT
Published March 31, 2007

TAMPA - Most of the starters from Jesuit's 1997 national championship team - none of whom hit lower than .324 - attended a pregame anniversary celebration Friday evening and stuck around for their alma mater's game against Tampa Catholic.

Unfortunately for Tigers fans, they all were in street clothes instead of stirrups.

The current batch of Tigers 14-3 was far less proficient against a trio of Crusaders pitchers who combined for a five-hitter in Tampa Catholic's 4-1 triumph before a standing-room-only audience at Paul Straub Field.

TC got four solid innings from left-handed starter Anthony Espin (four innings, three hits, five strikeouts) and a sparkling relief effort from setup man Joe Kelly (two innings, five strikeouts), paving the way for closer Kyle Allen to pitch a perfect seventh.

"Textbook baseball," Crusaders coach Rich Arena said.

Meantime, the Crusaders (9-4) got just enough timely hitting off Jesuit ace Kevin Quackenbush, against whom they hit successfully in a makeup contest at TC - an 8-6 Jesuit win - only six days before.

That makeup game "gave us some confidence; we knocked him around a little bit," Arena said. "It wasn't just a couple of flutters here and there. We hit a couple of doubles on him and did some things that maybe he had in the back of his mind a little bit."

Quackenbush (7-2) walked two batters and hit another to open the game, setting up Allen's RBI-grounder to give TC a 1-0 lead. No. 8 hitter Zack Alvarez made it 2-0 in the second with his second homer of the year, a 320-foot solo shot to left field.

"I hit it off the inside of the bat, and I didn't even hit it good," said Alvarez, who finished 2-for-3. "I guess I just came around quick enough and hit it out."

But what may have been the game's pivotal play occurred in the fourth, when Matt Ansell was called out on a close play at third on a fielder's choice grounder, prompting a brief argument from Arena. Two of TC's next three batters hit RBI-singles.

"That (call) got a lot of people up in the dugout," Alvarez said.

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

FHSAA allows class switch

TAMPA - The Florida High School Athletic Association granted Jesuit's request to jump from Class 4A to 5A in three sports including baseball, putting the Tigers in the same district as fellow traditional baseball powers Plant and Hillsborough.

Athletic Director John Crumbley confirmed Friday evening the Tigers baseball, basketball and soccer teams will move from 4A-9, which features five Polk County teams, to 5A-10, already composed of eight Hillsborough County public schools.

Crumbley said the move - effective for the 2007-08 school year - was requested to cut down on travel. Joey Knight, Times staff writer

[Last modified March 31, 2007, 07:41:59]