Three teams turn into one championship

By CAREY FREEMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 28, 2000

INVERNESS -- Jack Salozzo's recipe for success includes three parts. Take one part Diamonds, mix in one part Firestix and top it off with a solid helping of Pride.

The result?

In the case of Salozzo and the Inverness Junior Softball All-Stars, a second consecutive Section I title and a trip to this weekend's state championship in Fort Lauderdale.

"Basically, what we did was take four girls from each of the three teams (Diamonds, Firestix and Pride), and it's worked out fantastic," said Salozzo, whose Diamonds edged out the other two teams for the Inverness league title. "They actually are the best of the best. They truly are all-stars and deserve to be playing."

Completing the deal, Salozzo also brought over Firestix manager Chris Martone and Pride manager Holly Roberts. And few could question the quality of the combination after the Section I tournament.

Inverness began the week with wins over Yulee (13-8) and DeBarry (7-4) on Sunday after rainouts Saturday forced the doubleheader. It clinched the title with a 19-8 victory over DeBarry on Wednesday. Rain delays prevailed throughout the tournament but did not derail Inverness' run to the title. Wednesday's game was delayed for several hours by showers in Lake Helen, but Inverness already had done most of its damage.

Taking advantage of 10 walks and a combined six RBI by shortstop Ashley Worrell (single, triple, four RBI) and Kalli Grimes (two-run double), Inverness piled up 10 of its runs in the first inning and didn't look back.

Ashley Mangrum took over on the mound in the fourth and closed out the win.

"I've been doing this for three years," Salozzo said. "The first year, I was with the 11- and 12-year-olds (Majors), and we went as far as the district tournament. Last year, I coached with the 9- and 10-year-olds, and we went to sectionals. This year, we won sections, and we're going to state. All three (coaches) make the decisions, and we all agree this is probably the 12 best girls we've ever coached.

"They have so much talent. It's unbelievable."

Despite the upcoming tough competition, Salozzo and his coaches said they remain confident about winning Citrus County's first Little League state title. Much of that stems from the sheer ability of the team, from the solid pitching of Worrell, Mangrum and Ashley Christensen to the skilled infield and speedy outfield of Brittany Squire, Sarah Salozzo and Erin Lacey Fisher.

"We'll go down with the attitude that anything we do (at state) is better than what we did before," Salozzo said. "We're not going down with the attitude that we have to win. We just want the girls to have a good time and play ball the way we know we can play. If we keep the errors and mental mistakes down, I think we are unbeatable."

MAJOR BASEBALL: Central Citrus suffered only its second setback of the Major Baseball All-Star tournament Wednesday in a 6-2 loss to Panama City at Shady Hills Little League. The loss puts Central Citrus into a winner-take-all final that was to be played Thursday night.

The winner advances to the state tournament, which begins Saturday in Dunedin.

SENIOR BASEBALL: Crystal River rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the bottom of the sixth and held on for a 3-2 win over Jacksonville Highlands that kept the team alive for another day in the Section I tournament in Jacksonville.

Crystal River needed to win both of its two games against Madison on Thursday to reach the state tournament.

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