West Pasco rallies for championship

By STEVE LEE

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 4, 2000

ZEPHYRHILLS -- West Pasco Belles coach Steve Simon felt he had it all going into Monday night's Dixie Softball League state championship game against Okeechobee.

"We haven't been beat, we're playing a team we've already beat and I've got my best pitcher," he said.

Okeechobee, which lost to West Pasco 9-3 in the third game of the series at the Jordan Complex at Krusen Field, did not make it easy for the Belles. But West Pasco overcame a 3-1 deficit for a 7-5 win.

And Simon's best pitcher?

That would be his daughter, Stefanie, who improved to 4-0 in the series by tossing a six-hitter.

The win earned West Pasco (5-0) a berth in the DSL Belles World Series, a double-elimination tournament that begins Aug. 4 in Lawrence, Va.

With pitchers limited to 15 innings for state series, Simon had to do some juggling to limit his daughter's time on the mound. Kari Wiedinger (1-0), Nicole Seymour and Lisa Serra also pitched in West Pasco's five games.

"We've been Scrooge-like with (Stefanie's) innings the whole way through," Simon said.

Championships in five other divisions were up for grabs Monday night, but results of those finals were unavailable at press time.

The tourney began Thursday, but an entire day's worth of games were lost due to heavy rains on Friday. Teams doubled up on games Saturday and Sunday to make up for postponed contests.

"My husband came home at 3 in the morning (Sunday) and had to be back at 7," said Louise Jordan, who along with her husband, Clarence, ran the DSL state tourney.

Okeechobee took a 2-0 lead against West Pasco in the bottom of the first inning of the title game. Emily Davis reached on an infield error and Kelly Anderson doubled. Davis scored on Christy Morgan's groundout and Anderson raced home on Nadine Fiorenza's single.

Serra got one back for West Pasco in the third. Seymour was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Serra scored.

Okeechobee increased its lead to 3-1 in the third when Morgan stole home after Kelly Chambers struck out. West Pasco catcher Amy Skulas dropped strike three and had to throw out Chambers at first base. Chambers took advantage of the miscue.

A two-run deficit, however, became a 5-3 lead as West Pasco erupted for four runs in the fourth.

Stefanie Simon, Serra and Kristina Copus each singled and scored in that inning. Nicole Guercio, who led off with a walk, also scored.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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