Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

The Buzz

By IZZY GOULD
Published April 3, 2007

Pasco does it again

The Pasco baseball team continues to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, scoring two runs in the seventh inning to beat John I. Leonard Monday afternoon at the Orlando National Baseball Classic.

The Pirates, who hit back-to-back home runs to pull out a win Friday against Zephyrhills, used small ball and speed this time to win their 19th straight game.

Trailing 1-0 in the seventh, Dustin Brown reached base on a hit and was sacrificed to second. He advanced to third on an out, and Josh Johnson tied the score with a single to left.

Johnson stole second and was trying to steal third when Trevor Hobbs hit one in the hole at short. Johnson never stopped running, rounding third and scoring as Hobbs beat the throw to first.

Pasco's Josh Schofield (6-0) got the victory with a complete-game effort, allowing just four hits and striking out six.

The Pirates will meet the winner of Lake Highland Prep and Cantilly (Va.) High tonight at 7.

Check it out

Zephyrhills (11-6) continues to search for that big victory, having been denied in six of seven games against teams with winning records. Tonight's baseball game at Nature Coast would be doubly sweet, as the Sharks beat Zephyrhills 3-2 this season and are in second place in Class 4A, District 8.

The Bulldogs are likely to start sophomore Austin Adams (3-1, 0.52 ERA). They have lost games on back-to-back nights against Key West (a team Nature Coast beat 8-4 the previous night) and Pasco, as the Pirates pulled out a stunner with two seventh-inning homers.

A victory will all but seal the No. 2 seed in the district for Nature Coast, perhaps leaving the Bulldogs on the same path as Pasco for a district finals berth.

13 feet, not too shabby

Land O'Lakes pole vaulter Tony White became the first to clear 13 feet in a Sunshine Athletic Conference meet this decade.

The mark seems to be one that separates good vaulters from great ones.

Why?

"At 13 feet you have to go upside down," former Ridgewood coach Glenn Cable said. "At 12 feet you don't have to put your butt above your head.

"Thirteen feet separates the men from the boys."

You have to go all the way back to 1999 when one of the best pole vault battles in recent memory took place between River Ridge's Mike Wolfe and Ridgewood's Eddie Haab, both with 13-foot range. Wolfe won the SAC with a vault of 13-6. Haab finished second with a vault of 13 feet, but also had at least one vault of 14 feet, Cable said.

Of course, there were other 13-foot vaults in Pasco County.

One involved River Ridge star Mike Brock when he cleared 13-6 - in the dark - at a region meet in 2001. He had cleared 13 feet under the glow of headlights.

Here is a list of SAC pole vault champions since '99:

2006: Jason Debeaumont (Gulf), 12-0.

2005: Anthony Napolitano (Mitchell), 12-6.

2004: Travis Miller (Hudson), 12-6.

2003: Ben Alford (Pasco), 12-6.

2002: Ben Alford (Pasco), 11-6.

2001: Mike Brock (River Ridge), 12-0.

2000: Shawn Kapp (Ridgewood), 12-0.

1999: Mike Wolfe (River Ridge), 13-6.

The best of the best

The three best girls basketball players in Pasco County last season were all recognized recently by earning all-state honors from the Florida Sportswriters Association.

Wesley Chapel's Sthefany Thomas, the Times' Player of the Year, was the lone first-team selection, getting chosen for the second straight season for the Class 5A team. The Clemson-bound senior and 5-9 guard averaged 29.6 points a game, tops in the Tampa Bay area and believed to be the best in Florida.

Mitchell's Kristi Hopper, who set school records for scoring and 3-point shooting, was picked for the Class 6A third team. She led Mitchell to its third straight district title and surpassed the 1,000-point plateau while earning a scholarship to play next season at Florida Southern.

Kayli Keough was a potential first-team selection before mono sidelined her for the final month. The Land O'Lakes 6-1 junior, who has orally committed to Florida State, was averaging 21 points and nine rebounds at the time. Regardless, she was still picked as a Class 5A honorable mention.

By the numbers

0-6 Mitchell baseball team's record to start the season

5-5 Record since

5-0 Record when it scores six runs or more

0-11 Record when it doesn't

9 Games it has been held to two runs or less

18 Pasco's current win streak

13-0 Ridgewood's record against teams not named Pasco or Land O'Lakes.

7 Runs Zephyrhills' past five losses have been decided by.

March of the Pirates

Pasco softball is getting it done defensively.

The Pirates (18-3) have two of the county's best arms in southpaw Colena Lazar and right-hander Liz Garcia.

And they'll quickly credit the tough defense backing them up.

But opponents have had trouble trying to hit and score off this dynamic duo.

A snapshot of the past four games shows the Pirates have allowed just one run.

Even more impressive might be how much the Pirates outscore opponents.

In March, Pasco beat teams by a combined score of 109-24 with just one loss.

And for the season, Pasco has outscored teams by an average of 8.3-1.8.

Lazar and Garcia have combined for 10 shutouts, and the Pirates have won 13 of their past 14.

Lazar has struck out a whopping 125 batters.

[Last modified April 2, 2007, 23:30:12]