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Leopards rally around pitcher

By GREG AUMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 13, 2001

BROOKSVILLE -- Chrissy Hartley isn't accustomed to giving up five hits or four runs in a week, let alone a single inning.

Fortunately for the Hernando senior pitcher, her teammates can erase deficits bigger than they're accustomed to dealing with.

"I love this team," Hartley said Monday after the Leopards made a 4-1 Citrus lead disappear with a five-run second en route to an 8-6 victory at Tom Varn Park.

"I love this team so much for coming back and staying behind me," Hartley said. "Everything I could ask for, they did for me tonight."

Hartley (7-0) had allowed one earned run all season, but was riddled for four runs in the second inning. Citrus got doubles from Amy Bowen and Candice Pekins and RBI singles from Brittney Doyle, Jessica Macdonald and Mettina Maggiore.

But the Hurricanes' lead was short-lived. Hernando (10-1) countered with five runs in the bottom of the inning -- all with two outs.

Freshman Christen Baldwin singled and scored on Carolyn Gant's stand-up triple, then Gant scored when Doyle dropped an infield pop-up from Hartley.

That error proved more costly when Kimi Olmstead followed with a single and two runs scored on a double from freshman Ashley Rogers, who went 3-for-3 with four RBI.

"We're lucky that we're the kind of team that can do that -- we do swing the bat pretty well," Leopards coach Ernie Chatman said. "It's probably our strength when it hasn't been in the past."

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