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Bulls beat Wildcats in eight

Brandon Kibler's sacrifice fly keeps Bloomingdale in contention for a semifinal berth with a 5-4 win.

By FRANK PASTOR

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 22, 2001

TAMPA -- Bloomingdale freshman Brandon Kibler saw little playing time early in the season. When he did get in games, it was usually as a pinch-hitter or pinch-runner.

But for the past couple of weeks, Kibler has hit better in practice. And as his practice performance improved, his playing time increased.

Wednesday, he might have earned a little more.

Kibler had two hits and drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly as Bloomingdale edged Wharton 5-4 in eight innings in a preliminary round game at Blake.

"I'm getting in a lot more than I was," Kibler said. "The last two or three weeks, I've been getting my chance."

The rightfielder also might have preserved any chance his team had of advancing in the 20-team, round-robin tournament.

After losing to King and Plant City, Bloomingdale was within a loss of falling out of contention for a semifinal berth. Though the Bulls' chances remain slim, they improved to 1-2 in the West Division.

Wharton dropped to 2-1.

"Our first two games, we didn't play very well," Bloomingdale coach K.B. Scull said. "We're a young team, and we just didn't quit."

Kibler was one of three freshmen who started for Bloomingdale, which does not have any seniors. Ryan Hutchinson played centerfield and Ryan Strauss pitched.

Strauss struck out three while allowing four runs on seven hits and four walks in six innings.

"He did a pretty good job," Scull said. "He's a ninth-grader, so that makes it even more impressive. He's going to be a good pitcher."

Kibler and Hutchinson, who singled, had three of Bloomingdale's four hits.

But the biggest hit belonged to Chris Kemper, who smacked a grand slam off Wharton ace Matt McHargue to give Bloomingdale a 4-0 lead in the first.

Rich Eber cut the Bulls' lead in half with a two-run home run to centerfield in the second.

Wharton closed to 4-3 on Nick Cardieri's RBI single in the sixth and tied the game one inning later when Wayne Hedden beat out Josh Ussery's relay throw to first, allowing Josh Spivey to score.

Relief pitcher Christian Madson held the Wildcats scoreless for two innings before Kibler's fly ball to centerfield drove home Kemper with the winning run with one out in the eighth.

"I just wanted to get a piece of the ball, look for my pitch," Kibler said. "I got a high fastball and cashed in on it."

In other action, Aaron McClain's grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted Riverview to a dramatic 7-6 victory over East Bay. Roberto Martinez also homered for the Sharks, who improved to 2-1 in the tournament. The Indians dropped to 0-3.

Armwood bunched five runs into the third and fourth innings to pull away from Blake 6-1. The Hawks (2-0) kept pace with Durant atop the East. The Yellow Jackets slipped to 0-2.

Finally, King beat Robinson 15-8. King improved to 2-0 in the West while Robinson falls to 0-2.

Today's games

At University of Tampa Plant City vs. Robinson, 10 Plant vs. Leto, 7:30

At Durant Wharton vs. King, 1 East Bay vs. Blake, 4 Durant vs. Armwood, 7

At Jefferson Chamberlain vs. Palm Beach Gardens, 1 Jefferson vs. Hillsborough, 7

Standings

Each team plays four division games. The winner of each division qualifies for Saturday's semifinals at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. at Jefferson. The final will be at 8 p.m. Saturday at the University of Tampa.

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