Sports

Pinellas: County roundup

By BRYAN BURNS
Published March 6, 2008

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ST. PETERSBURG - After averaging 11 runs in its first five games against quality competition, Palm Harbor University has seen its bats cool considerably.

Of late, the Hurricanes have been winning with pitching and defense, which they demonstrated again in a 4-0 victory Wednesday over Dixie Hollins.

Elizabeth Pages (2-0) tossed a shutout and gave up just two hits with 11 strikeouts for Palm Harbor University (8-3). The Hurricanes' defense, led by third baseman Sarah Broeseker and shortstop Madison O'Brien (zero errors combined in 11 games), was again stellar.

"We're not stringing hits together, but it'll come," Palm Harbor U. coach Chuck Poetter said. "They know they can hit, but we're young and we're anxious."

Against Dixie (6-3), the Hurricanes scored in the first inning after O'Brien tripled and came home on a wild pitch but struggled to find more offense against Rebels starter Camille Morgan (5-3). Morgan held the Hurricanes in check until the seventh inning when errors, wild pitches and passed balls helped Palm Harbor U. put the game away with three runs.

"I thought the kids played very well, but we made some mental errors in the seventh inning and they took advantage of them," Dixie coach Lynn Keiser said.

Palm Harbor U. stranded seven in scoring position on the basepaths.

"Camille threw one of the better games against us," Poetter said. "She kept us off-balance and did what she needed to do, and (Dixie) made enough plays to keep the game close."

Dixie's best chance to score came in the first inning when it loaded the bases with two outs, but a groundout to Pages ended the threat.

Pages didn't allow another Dixie baserunner until the sixth inning.

 

East Lake 7, Osceola 1

East Lake jumped in front early by scoring six runs in the first two innings to defeat the Warriors at home.

Briana Weaver's RBI triple helped East Lake (7-5) put three runs on the board in the first inning. The Eagles added three in the second to lead 6-0.

"We just jumped on them early, but their pitcher settled down after that," East Lake coach Mike Estes said.

Hayley Davis (4-1) went the distance for East Lake and gave up only four hits to get the victory.

Osceola drops to 5-2.

 

Northeast 14, Clearwater 7

The homestanding Vikings scored 11 in the first inning.

"We had a lot of good hits," Northeast coach Christie Evans said. "Our top of the lineup hit the ball extremely well, and we did a good job running the bases."

Alexis Huff (2-1) pitched her first complete game of the season to help lead Northeast (3-4).

Clearwater falls to 1-9.

 

BASEBALL

Tarpon Springs 7, Largo 2

Tarpon powered by Largo on the road thanks to three home runs.

Steve Lynford hit a two-run shot in the second, and Nic Freburg and Joey Kase drilled solo blasts in the third and fourth innings to pace the Spongers (5-4).

Danny Ryan's two-RBI single in the fourth scored the only runs for Largo (7-2).

 

Dunedin 8, Countryside 4

At home, Dunedin turned a 4-3 deficit into a four-run win after scoring five in the fourth inning.

Jameson Sweat's two-RBI double scored the tying and winning runs for Dunedin (6-2). Later in the fourth, Cammeron Fisher hit a home run to increase the Falcons' lead to 8-4.

Max Kreuter pitched five innings to improve to 4-0. Kreuter also hit a home run in the first to get Dunedin's offense started.

Countryside falls to 2-9.

 

Mitchell 3, St. Petersburg 2

Tied 2-2 going into the seventh, Mitchell scored in the top of the inning and held off the Green Devils to earn the victory on the road.

Anthony Ritz's RBI single with one out brought home the winning run for Mitchell (3-4).

St. Petersburg (3-3) had a chance to tie it in the bottom of the inning after Tyler Moll's one-out double; however, two strikeouts ended the Green Devils' comeback hopes.

[Last modified March 6, 2008, 00:45:36]