Juniors making their final pitch

Defense has carried the Zephyrhills juniors baseball team so far, but it will need a strong pitching performance to keep its championship hopes alive.

By JAMAL THALJI

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 7, 2000

ZEPHYRHILLS -- It's hard to believe that the Zephyrhills' junior All-Stars biggest weakness may be it's pitching.

It's pitching? With Jake Cimorelli and Barry Geiger on the staff? How can that be?

Well, the defense is certainly the strength of the team. Two error-free performances led to two wins. And the hitting is solid. The team certainly has been productive, scoring 23 runs in three games. So that leaves the pitching. And yes, when its top arms are on the mound, Zephyrhills has been unbeatable.

Yet, Zephyrhills is still facing an elimination game Thursday evening at Plant City against the winner of the earlier Lake Wales/Plant City contest.

With staff ace Cimorelli on the mound, Zephyrhills walloped Pinecrest 10-0 on Saturday at Plant City behind a perfect defense.

On Sunday, Geiger pitched Zephyrhills to a 9-1 win over Dade City.

But Monday, coach Ralph Velez decided he wanted to rest his two aces and try and get past North Lakeland without having to put any strain on his top two arms.

So the team opted to pitch by committee, and the result was a 7-4 loss to North Lakeland.

"Pitching is my weakest point," Velez said. "Probably because I try not to use more than one pitcher."

Eric Bahr had three strikeouts in four innings in that loss, but he wasn't getting any calls, so Veles put in Cimorelli and then Matt Hayes. But without the defense and offense to pick up Zephyrhills, it wasn't enough.

"Defensively, we were playing as solid as anybody," Velez said. "We were absolutely awesome, but with those caliber of teams, if you make one or two mistakes, it's hard to win."

Cimorelli has been tops, winning Zephyrhills' first game after throwing just 46 pitches and going the distance while striking out six. Geiger needed 70-plus pitches to work through the second win, but struck out five.

Leading the team at the plate has been Danny Burgess, who is batting around .500, and Hayes, the leadoff man, who is batting .583. Danny Smith, Jeff Zuloo and Kyle Velez have also been consistent at the plate.

MAJOR GAME: Thursday night's round of All-Star games proved critical for several other local teams.

The Zephyrhills majors team, after losing its first game to Dade City 10-0 at home on Sunday, beat North Lakeland American 13-0 on Monday. Wednesday, Zephyrhills came through against Plant City American in a 14-10 thriller to set up Thursday's rematch with Dade City.

Majors coach Donnie Nelson said that opening day shutout seems like an aberration now that his squad has scored 27 runs in two wins. And he thinks he knows why.

"It was the first game we played in a tournament," Nelson said. "They never played together in a regular game. We needed something a little easier than Dade City to start off with, we just had to take our lumps and hope we do better."

Leading the team in those two wins was Tracey Carlisle, who hit back-to-back home runs and went 3-for-3 against Lakeland American. Josh Lynch earned the win in that game.

But against Plant City American, Zephyrhills almost blew a 14-3 lead in the fifth inning. Plant City American scored seven runs in that inning, and only Spencer Bahr could stop the bleeding for Zephyrhills. He earned the save with a dominant performance, striking out two and getting the last batter to ground out. Nelson said Bahr would probably start Thursday.

The coach added that this team's best attribute is its mental toughness.

"(Its') their attitude," he said. "They all get along good together and they seem to all be friends, they have a real good attitude."

DO-OR-DIE FOR JUNIOR SOFTBALL: Thursday night, Zephyrhills faced elimination in a game against Plant City at Dade City. A win would keep them alive for a Monday game.

That's what happens when a team loses its opener 16-3 to Pinecrest. The only highlights came from Sarah Bogart and Alicia Larson, who both batted in runs. Crystal Hogsett scored the third run, getting onto base when she was hit by a pitch, then taking home on a passed ball.

To report news from Zephyrhills Little League, contact Jamal Thalji at (352) 521-5757, ext. 25; by fax at (352) 521-0290; or by e-mail at thalji@sptimes.com.

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