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By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 9, 2001
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "I'm pretty sure no one wanted to dive for a ball out where he was."
-- Hudson coach Jack Ledbetter on a patch of rightfield grass where Steve Smith, stricken with the flu, deposited his dinner Tuesday night.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Getting shelled in his first start and failing to get out of the second inning was an ominous start for the guy expected to be the backbone of the Land O'Lakes pitching staff. But last week, Jose Santa proved he is back ... and then some. Pitching against Clearwater, Santa went the distance in a 2-1 district victory.
And in this case, the distance was 10 innings as he allowed just five hits and struck out 10 against the Tornadoes.
The lone run was unearned, and combined with his 6-0 shutout of Tarpon Springs the week before and a relief performance, Santa's streak of innings without allowing an earned run has reached 18.
The senior has also produced at the plate. He had two hits, including a double, against Dunedin and singled in a run in the 10th inning against Ridgewood.
GAME OF THE WEEK: River Ridge (7-2) and Gulf (5-4) played last night (see C-Section for story), but the two Sunshine Athletic Conference front-runners (who'da thunk we'd ever say that?) square off again March 13 at Gulf. The Bucs and Royal Knights both took four-game winning streaks into last night's contest, with River Ridge putting its perfect 5-0 SAC record on the line.