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Lady Knights look for another big year

The under-18 team has succeeded on a national level before and has started this season well.

By TERRY JONES

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 1, 2001

GIBSONTON -- Like many travel teams, the Lady Knights began in the Little Leagues and expanded to more games and tougher competition.

In all, the team started with four seasons of Little League and now is in its 10th season of travel ball.

This year, the Lady Knights have an 18-and-under and 16-and-under team. With many of the players on high school teams, the summer competition helps them stay active during the off-season.

The 18-and-under team has been dominant during the past few years. As a result, many have played in college. In all, 58 players have earned scholarships. And those college-bound players have helped the Lady Knights succeed on the big stage.

Last year, they placed ninth in the nation in the year-end tournaments. And in 1998, they place fourth in the nation.

"And we have another great team this year, which could place high," coach Glenn Rodriguez said. The team won both of the tournaments it played in early in the season.

After an early loss at the West Orange Tournament, the Lady Knights fought out of the losers' bracket to win the tournament with a 4-1 record. And they went 5-0 to win the No-Fear Tournament in June.

Mandy Schuerman, one of the top pitchers and hitters in the state, leads the team. In four games, she is 4-0 with two no-hitters.

As the pitching and hitting ace for East Bay last spring, she struck out more than 200 batters and hit over .400. She signed with Florida before the season.

This summer, she is hitting .600 and has an ERA of 1.13.

Mandy Garcia helps with the pitching. She will be a sophomore at Durant next year.

Garcia is 5-1 with 14 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.90.

"Mandy is one of the reasons this team has had such a good start," Garcia said. "She is a fast learner and is improving with each game. She has a great future ahead."

Other offensive stars for the Lady Knights are Kelley Holmes (second on the team with a .400 average) and Lindsay Ryan (third at .385).

Besides Schuerman, other college bound Lady Knights are Sheryl Clark (Indian River Junior College), Tiffany King and Erin Sutton (Manatee Junior College), Jennifer Strehl (Hillsborough Community College) and Ryan (St. Petersburg Junior College).

"This team has a very good balance of pitching, hitting and fielding," Rodriguez said. "They could have a great season."

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