Softball showdown heading to Brooksville

By GREG AUMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 5, 2000

BUSHNELL -- Unlike two mercy-rule victories against South Sumter in the regular season, Hernando had to play the full seven innings in Thursday's regional semifinal, but the Raiders still didn't have nearly enough to keep the Leopards from continuing their postseason run with a 6-1 win.

"When you get to tournament play, games get closer," said Hernando coach Ernie Chatman, whose team, ranked third among Class 3A schools, will be playing in a regional final for the first time since the sport went to fastpitch in 1988. "They just do. Who knows what the reason is, but games always get closer."

Hernando (25-3) will return home to Brooksville's Tom Varn Park on Saturday to play county rival Central for the fourth time this season.

Regardless of who wins, the county will have a team in the state final four in Auburndale next week.

The Bears, who defeated Santa Fe 13-2 on Thursday, split the season series with the Leopards but lost the district championship to Hernando last week.

"That ought to be motivation in itself," Chatman said.

For two innings, the Leopards hardly looked like the team that beat South Sumter 12-0 and 18-1 this season.

Raiders starter Kyle McCann (10-12) retired the first six Leopards in order, five on pop flies, while the Raiders used a base hit, stolen base and fielding error to take a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

Chrissy Hartley (13-1) relieved starter Beth Chatman in the third inning and held the Raiders to one hit the rest of the way, striking out 10 batters -- two in each of her five innings.

As they did in Tuesday's win against Crystal River, Hernando got on the board more by strategy than with power.

Jamie Kunkel led off the third with the first of her three hits, advanced on bunts by Jessica Maggard and Kristi Langworthy, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Katye Altieri.

Maggard put the Leopards ahead when she scored on a wild pitch.

"The key in softball is getting people on base and then trying to make something happen, and we did that a couple of times," Chatman said.

Hernando scored in similar fashion in the fourth, when Christene Dennis was hit by a pitch, advanced on a Carolyn Gant bunt and scored on Kunkel's single off McCann's glove.

Maggard gave Hernando a 4-1 lead with arun-scoring double in the fourth, and the Leopards added two runs in the seventh, thanks to three walks and two errors by South Sumter.

Kunkel brought in the final run with her third single.

South Sumter got its hit off Hartley in the sixth, when Ezra Parsons singled.

She advanced on two wild pitches. Brandi Davis lined a drive to left field, but Jessica Maggard didn't have to budge to make the catch and end the inning.

Chatman wasn't surprised to have a relatively close score, but after falling behind early for the second straight game, he said his team will need to get going at the plate a few innings sooner than it has in the playoffs this week.

"We just can't sit back and just not get anything going," Chatman said. "What'd we do? Our first six outs were five popouts. Little leaguers catch those."

The Leopards and Bears will meet at Tom Varn Park at 7:30 p.m., where Hernando has not lost this season.

Both schools have already gone farther in the playoffs than any fastpitch team in county history.

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