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By WAYNE GRUMET
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 3, 2001
WESLEY CHAPEL -- Crystal River arrived at Wesley Chapel on Monday with quite a handicap.
The Pirates were not only playing without two starters, but they were missing two players hitting .460 or better.
However, the rest of the Pirates did their part to help Crystal River beat Wesley Chapel 3-0.
The absence of catcher Danny Caron and shortstop Jonathan Runnels was felt on offense. Crystal River mustered just six hits, but four went for extra bases.
Pirates ace Clayton Trenary said he pitched his worst game despite not allowing a hit until the fourth inning.
Crystal River (18-2 overall, 7-0 in Class 3A, District 6) simply found a way to win.
"That's been our earmark all year. We play together," Crystal River coach Brent Hall said. "We try to bunch things together and get a run here and a run there."
Crystal River got on the board with two outs in the third when Scott Miller sent a long drive down the leftfield line. The ball curved just inside the foul pole to stake the Pirates to a 1-0 edge.
Trenary gave himself some insurance in the fourth by keying a two-run rally. Trenary led off by popping up to rightfield, but Wesley Chapel's Derek Laboy never saw the ball and then watched it land 30 yards to his left.
Trenary ended up on third with a triple and Marcus Galvan subsequently drove him home with a double to left. Galvan would later score on a Kevin Bradley sacrifice.
Wesley Chapel (2-16, 2-4) had plenty of chances to get to Trenary. The Wildcats had runners on in each inning but stranded all 12.
"We've got to get the clutch hit. We're being patient at the plate and getting baserunners," Wesley Chapel coach Steve Mumaw said. "What's disappointing is (Crystal River) made a couple errors on ground balls early but we're letting them out of the inning with lazy pop flies."
Trenary struggled, walking six batters in four innings. He still managed to fight out of a number of jams, striking out five while allowing just the one hit in the fifth.