West Pasco teams ready to play

All four West Pasco All-Star softball teams have high expectations entering this weekend's District 12 tournament in Dunedin.

By KEVIN KELLY

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 7, 2000

Rick Hohenthaner, unlike some all-star coaches, doesn't have to figure out where to play 13 shortstops.

The West Pasco senior league All-Star softball team manager has a squad loaded with players for every position.

Two-deep everywhere.

Hohenthaner's team is a blend of 15- to 16-year-old players. Some played on the team that won the junior division District 12 championship last year. All but one played on a junior varsity or varsity team at either Ridgewood, River Ridge or Gulf last season.

"It's giving me a much more solid infield when I don't have to try and create players," Hohenthaner said. "It's going to be a tight infield. I should expect good play out of them. The outfield is not going to be the most fleet footed. They've played the positions at some level and I think they're going to be solid enough to cut down the gaps."

The West Pasco senior league team begins District 12 competition against East Lake at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Fisher Field in Dunedin. The winner of the three-team tournament advances to the sectionals later in Fort Myers.

West Pasco won the District 12 championship in 1996 and 1997.

"Probably our biggest strength is going to be the solid defense that we expect to have," Hohenthaner said. "We're not going to dazzle people with tremendous plays but we're going to be steady, workmanlike with a very minimum amount of errors."

JUNIOR LEAGUE: When Ralph Farmer looks at his lineup, the West Pasco junior manager can't come up with one dominant player.

"We have a very good squad," Farmer said. "They're all expected to come and play and contribute ... We just have girls that are going to come out and play hard."

His team's strength may lie in its pitching staff.

"We have a full roster of good pitchers," Farmer said.

In fact, there are six hurlers including Carly Mitchell, Shauna Kortas and Nikki Deeb.

"Nikki is our left-handed pitcher and will play second base," Farmer said. "That girl has got some wheels on her. She's real quick."

The juniors play Safety Harbor at 4 p.m. on Saturday in Dunedin.

"We're going to have to play a lot of good team ball," Farmer said. "We can't afford to have a lot of mental mistakes. We just do the things a good team does -- hit the ball, take advantage of every opportunity. If we get girls on base, we'll be pretty good on base. Defensively, we just have to make smart plays."

LITTLE LEAGUE: She expects her team to defend against the bunt really well, but it's a given that the West Pasco team Karen Staggs manages won't be bunting all that often.

Four members of the little league division team batted over .400 during the regular season including Jennifer Miskell and Janelle Doscher.

Like the West Pasco junior league team, the little league squad is loaded with pitching.

"All together on my team, I have eight pitchers out of 13 players," Staggs said.

At least five or six pitchers should see action in the District 12 tournament. The West Pasco little league team plays East Lake at 10 a.m. on Saturday in Dunedin.

"I really don't know a lot about them," Staggs said.

9-10 YEAR OLD: As the manager of West Pasco's youngest all-star team, Janet Maxey makes sure her players work hard by running laps, taking infield and batting practice.

So when they stay around after a two- to three-hour practice in search of more work, she's convinced they will be just fine when it comes to the District 12 tournament this weekend in Dunedin. The 9-10 year olds play Safety Harbor at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

"For girls that have not played together, they do very well," Maxey said. "They play well They all get along. There's no fighting. That's the one thing we've got going for us."

To report results from West Pasco Softball All-Stars, contact Kevin Kelly at (727) 869-6237; by fax at (727) 869-6233; or by e-mail at kkelly@sptimes.com.

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