Baseball: Pasco overwhelms Nature Coast

By Joey Knight, Times Staff Writer
Published February 29, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - As game-time temperatures fell into the low 40s, Pasco's players found several options for keeping warm Thursday at Nature Coast: insulate heavily with undergarments, keep moving around the dugout or just hold their hands over Josh Johnson's bat.

Ninth in the batting order to essentially give the Pirates (4-1, 3-1) two leadoff hitters, Johnson has provided coach Ricky Giles with an extra cleanup hitter instead.

The fleet junior's two home runs off Travis Murray, complemented by the dual dominance of senior right-handers Dustin Brown and Aaron Brandt, led the Pirates to a 7-1 win against the Sharks (4-1, 3-1) in a pivotal Class 4A, District 8 contest.

In five games, Johnson has three homers - one more than his career varsity total entering the season. His two-run blast nearly to dead centerfield highlighted a four-run second inning that featured a two-run shot to the same spot by Jorge Jaramillo.

"(Johnson's) got a lot of fire," Giles said. "It don't seem like it, but he's just got a lot of raw ability that just hasn't been proven yet."

Meanwhile, Brown seemed virtually unfazed by the frigidness, allowing three hits and striking out seven over four-plus innings before trouble in the fifth.

"I thought it would feel a lot worse (in the cold), but actually it felt good," Brown said. "It wasn't tight or anything; it was real loose. I was ready to rock and fire."

Brown (2-0) struck out the side in the fourth but watched Nature Coast load the bases with no out in the fifth on a passed ball, infield error and walk. Brandt entered, struck out No. 3 hitter Brandon Derespiris, then forced Murray into an infield double play.

Pasco 7 Nature Coast 1

[Last modified February 28, 2008, 23:26:45]