Crusaders out-hit, not out-matched

Canterbury 5, Man. HEAT 1.

By BY DOUG KATES
Published May 2, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - In a rare instance this season, Canterbury was out-hit by an opponent, but it still didn't matter.

The Crusaders (21-5) depended a little less on their offense and still defeated the Manatee HEAT (14-11) 5-1 in the region quarterfinals.

"Defense was solid, pitching was solid, but our bats kind of let us down tonight, " said coach John Lancaster.

Manatee out-hit Canterbury 7-6, but the HEAT committed four errors and all were costly. In the second inning, Joe Cuda reached on an infield error and later scored on a wild pitch. In an attempt to throw Cuda out at the plate, catcher Nate Davis' throw went into rightfield for an error, allowing another runner to score.

In the fifth inning, J.D. Davis walked, Brandon Hamilton reached on an infield error and both scored on the HEAT's final error of the game.

[Last modified May 2, 2007, 00:44:25]