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Battle of the Ridges
By JOHN COTEY © St. Petersburg Times, published March 15, 2001 River Ridge's win over Land O'Lakes last Friday did not prove the Royal Knights are the county's best team. But it did prove that March 27 will definitely decide that issue. On that Tuesday, the Royal Knights will host Ridgewood in the first of two meetings, with the winner getting the upper hand on county bragging rights. It is the only intrigue remaining in the softball season, which a third of the way through has yielded two dominant teams -- the Rams and Royal Knights -- and little else. Figure in Land O'Lakes, and you have the only three teams in the county with anything even close to a winning record. But the Gators have been dismissed as Sunshine Athletic Conference contenders, and we are left with the Ridges. What's new? Though the Gators were the only team to advance to regional playoffs last year, the Royal Knights and Rams have consistently been the county's better teams the past five seasons. It's unfortunate they are in a district with Palm Harbor, which has won a state championship and finished second the past two seasons. As a result, one of the Ridges probably will be staying home again this post-season. That will depend on the two games between the teams, which will determine district seeding. Whoever finishes second in the district won't see PHU until the finals. Whoever finishes third will need to beat one of the state's best teams. The race between the Ridges for No. 2 begins in earnest March 27, and the Royal Knights look to be favored as Ridgewood fights through injuries. Tuesday, River Ridge clobbered Zephyrhills 19-1. Including the 10-7 win over the Gators, the Royal Knights have won six straight and have scored in double figures five times this season. Sophomore Stefanie Simon is hitting a robust .421, Adrienne Cicirello is getting hot and is one of the county's top lead-off hitters and Christine Beck is hitting .531 (with a slugging percentage of .864) and is either first or second in every offensive category but steals. On the mound, Beck is 8-1, and along with players like Mandy Petrella (.385), Amy Cassell (.343) and Meghan Beach (15 runs) make up a team that is solid throughout. "It just seems to be coming from different places every night," said Ernie Beck, coach and Christine's father. "Last night (against Zephyrhills) Stefanie Simon had a triple and Adrienne had a triple. Jill Hrovoski had a big hit in the win against Land O'Lakes. Meaghan Beach has like six sacrifices. When you can execute and get people in scoring position, its nice." Against Zephyrhills, Cicirello led off with a single, Beach bunted her to second, she stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Beck. Though the Royal Knights went on to make it a rout, that series showed Beck that his team can score a myriad of ways. "That is nice to have," Beck said. "We just been putting the ball in play a lot more than in years past. Our strikeouts are down. When you do that, you put the pressure on the other team." WELCOME BACK: Ridgewood shortstop Bethann Blankenship made her return to the field Tuesday after missing three games with an elbow injury. The senior and University of Tampa-signee made her first error of the season in her return. Blankenship's left elbow is still sore. Doctors told her she has a severe bone and tendon bruise, and it could bother her for as long as six months. She plans to play through the pain. VACATION TIME: Because Ridgewood catcher Melanie Boyer did not slide into home Saturday against Boca Ciega and ran over the Pirates' catcher, she was ejected and is suspended for a week. She will miss both Rams games this week. Boyer had caught all but three innings for Ridgewood and is hitting .355 with the team's only homer. Brandy Krieg caught in her place Tuesday, the third position at which Krieg has started in the past three games. REMATCH: Hudson had its game with Wesley Chapel rained out Tuesday night, and tonight meets Mitchell at 6 p.m. The Cobras beat the Mustangs 3-2 a week ago as starter Surpia Kumar had 14 strikeouts. Other games tonight: Gulf hosts Ridgewood in a Class 5A, District 9 game at 7 p.m.; Land O'Lakes travels to Dunedin at 7; Pasco hosts Zephyrhills at 7; and Wesley Chapel play Citrus at 6.
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