Marauders remain district frontrunners

Ace Ryan Weber shuts down the Crusaders.

By ERIC MUSKATEVC
Published April 4, 2007

CLEARWATER - Tough, tough and tougher.

That's how Tuesday night went for Tampa Catholic. On the road at district-leading Clearwater Central Catholic, the Crusaders met Ryan Weber, who had everything going on the mound in a complete-game 5-0 shutout.

"He hit his spots. He had every pitch going. It was tough," Tampa Catholic coach Rich Arena said. "We couldn't do anything timely."

The loss kept CCC out in front of the Class 3A, District 11 race, but the Marauders have a date with on Friday with co-leader Berkeley Prep, whom the Crusaders have split the season with, keeping Tampa Catholic right in the mix.

"The good thing is we're not totally out of it," Arena said.

Weber kept TC off-balance with a perfect game through the first three innings. William Knox broke up the no-hitter with a single in the top of the fourth.

Anthony Espin and Kyle Allen immediately followed with singles to load the bases, but Weber struck out the remaining side as he also did in the fifth and sixth innings.

"We didn't get a hit in a key situation," Arena said.

Tampa Catholic (9-5) produced two more hits, including a single from Ryan Henry and a double from Daniel Lee.

The Marauders scored first in the first inning with a two-run home run and added runs in the second, third and fourth innings for a cushion.

Starting pitcher Joe Kelly (0-2) recorded the loss before being relieved by Ryan Arena and Ryan Hammer. Hammer, who has had success against CCC on the junior varsity level, put an end to the Marauders (12-4) with two scoreless innings.

"(CCC) just didn't let us do anything when we needed to," Arena said. "(Weber) had all three pitches in control."

[Last modified April 3, 2007, 23:49:37]