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By ROD GIPSON
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 27, 2000
CITRUS PARK -- In one of the longest games in the history of Hillsborough High School baseball, Sickles edged Wharton 1-0 on a bases-loaded squeeze bunt in the bottom of the 18th inning.
"We tried everything else," Sickles coach Bob Pagano said after the game. "So we thought we'd give it (the squeeze bunt) a shot."
The five-hour game featured 18 hits and 39 strikeouts and didn't end until after midnight Wednesday morning.
Earlier in the game, Sickles had loaded the bases four separate times, each time failing to score. Wharton's five pitchers gave up 10 hits but none allowed a run until the 18th, when Billy Wimberly was on the mound. Matt McHargue, Wharton's starting pitcher threw nine shutout innings, as did Casey McKenzie, who started for Sickles. McKenzie, who struck out 13, eventually gave way to three Gryphons pitchers, including Matt Carrullo, who earned the win after five innings of relief.
McKenzie scored the deciding run on Matt Gess' bunt.
The win was Sickles' third in four games so far this season while the lengthy loss dropped Wharton to 2-1.
In other baseball action, Leto (2-1) got a home run from Rick Jones and a double from Antoine Ware, but it wasn't enough offense as the Falcons fell 10-5 to Robinson. Falcons pitcher Jeremy Pelkey gave up four hits while taking the loss. Gaither, meanwhile, earned its second win of the season after beating King 8-1 Tuesday. Eric Thompson's home run was one of six hits for the Cowboys.
BOYS BASKETBALL: In what was supposed to be a rebuilding season, Wharton still managed to shake off a mediocre regular season and advance to the regional quarterfinals. The Wildcats fell Thursday night 67-49 to Largo but gave the Packers all they could handle. Cliff Meadows led with 21 points while Danny Greene scored 11 as the Wildcats staged two second-half rallies before Largo eventually pulled away. Wharton ends the season at 14-14.