Pasco: River Ridge earns another crack at Palm Harbor

River Ridge earns another crack at Palm Harbor

By JOHN C. COTEY

River Ridge slayed it's post-season demons Tuesday night by beating Ridgewood, but faces something even more imposing tonight if it is to win its first district championship: Palm Harbor University.

The Hurricanes, though, are demons in their own right. Twice this season they defeated River Ridge 5-0 and held the high-powered Royal Knights to two hits. Those games practically are routs in a sport dominated by low-scoring battles.

So while River Ridge was able to snap a three-year losing streak in the district playoffs, ending a three-game skid in the final will prove tougher.

"Both games we lost to them were because of one bad inning in each game," said Knights coach Ernie Beck. "But the fact is, we haven't scored on them yet. We are looking forward to the challenge."

PHU (26-4) produced four runs in the fifth inning of the teams' first meeting. The 'Canes scored all five in the second inning of the rematch. The "one bad inning" theme has merit, and Beck has sold his players on it.

"We think we can beat them," said sparkplug centerfielder Adrienne Cicirello. "It was one bad inning each time before. We can't make mistakes. But I think we will play a perfect game like we did (against Ridgewood)."

The Royal Knights, a school-record 24-5, were near flawless against the Rams in the semifinal.

Their only error, when pitcher Christine Beck mishandled a bouncer back to the mound, was turned into an out after a Ridgewood runner overran second base. An alert Beck threw to Stefani Simon for the out.

Cicirello gobbled up everything in center field, making four putouts, and the River Ridge infield was perfect.

At the plate, it got the timely hitting the Knights have lacked in their games against Palm Harbor. Simon and Jen Brumbaugh produced RBI hits during a critical three-run third inning, and Cicirello had an RBI triple.

"I think we're a team that when we play a good team, we step up," Brumbaugh said. "Now we have to do it one more time (tonight). I think our defense will be the key. It always is. But the hitting has really come through for us."

River Ridge gets the game it envisioned last year when the new districts were announced and Palm Harbor, a state champion in 1999 and the runner-up last season, was lumped in with the Royal Knights.

If there was one certainty when the year started, it was that the road to the district championship goes through PHU.

"As soon as they put us in with them, we started looking forward to this game," Christine Beck said.