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DeMuth, Durant Run Past Gaither

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 22, 2008

PLANT CITY Durant senior pitcher Sara DeMuth looked up to the heavens and said a heartfelt thank you.

"It feels like we've broken the curse," she said.

Through her entire career at Durant, the Cougars couldn't advance past the region quarterfinals. On Tuesday, that changed when Durant defeated Gaither, 6-2, in Class 6A.

The Cougars move on to play Countryside, which defeated Plant City 4-2 to advance, in the region semifinals Friday at 7 p.m.

Durant exposed Gaither's defense, particularly in the infield, with four of its eight hits being bunts.

"We didn't feel like we would out-hit them; I mean Morgan [Grove] is a good pitcher," Durant coach Matt Carter said. "We executed everything we asked them to do."

DeMuth had nine strikeouts and allowed one earned run and five hits. Grove had seven K's and gave up eight hits.

"I thought we could have given them a better game," Gaither coach Al Alcala said.

Nick Williams

COUNTRYSIDE 4, PLANT CITY 2: Ali Lamb had struggled in her first two at-bats in host Countryside's regional quarterfinal against Plant City.

But she made up for it in a big way in the bottom of the sixth as she tripled to left-center field with two outs to score Ashlee Sismilich and Ayanna Andrews to break a 2-2 tie and send the Cougars (23-4) to the semifinals.

Countryside will host Durant on Friday at 7 p.m.

"Ali battled all night at the plate," said Countryside coach Kaylyn Bayly. "All Ali had to do was be patient."

Raiders center fielder Kaycee Hart almost made a spectacular catch on the hit by Lamb but when she hit the warning track at the Countryside Community Center, she seemed to lose her footing.

"We don't have a warning track at our field," Plant City coach Heidi Kouveras said. "But, that ball would have been over the fence at most fields. But we shouldn't have been in that position."

Sismilich led off the inning by reaching on an error and Andrews followed with a walk. Raiders pitcher Megan Still, who struck out eight, got the next two outs, including a nine-pitch strikeout of Cougars cleanup hitter Desiree Baker before Lamb's triple.

"Des [Baker] had a great at bat," said Bayly, who has Countryside in the regionals for the fifth consecutive year. "That battle kind of fired us up."

Countryside jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Sismilich tripled, Andrews was hit by a pitch. Andrews stole second and when no one covered the base, the ball went into center field, allowing Sismilich to score with Andrews going to third. One out later, Baker singled to score Andrews.

Cougars pitcher Alyssa Bache was cruising along, giving up an unearned run in the second inning, until the sixth. With one out, Analise Coffee reached on an infield single and went to second on a ground out and scored on a single by Amanda Alba.

Rick Harmon

Class 5A
CHAMBERLAIN 3, PINELLAS PARK 0: The host Chiefs (24-4) won their regional quarterfinal
and yet Coach Bob Diez wasn't that happy.

"We played very, very ordinary," Diez said. "Very drab. Very lifeless. We went through the motions."

Perhaps more than anything, he didn't like the Chiefs performance at the plate, where they collected only five hits.

"Look, this is the best hitting team I've ever had here," Diez said. "But they're just not hitting. I mean we have six or seven players in that lineup that will go onto the next level. But still, even after all the coaxing and pep talks, they're still not hitting like they should."

The way Chiefs scratched out their first run in the second inning was indicative, Diez said, of how they've done it all year, scoring on an error, a single and two hit batsmen.

The second and third runs, coming in the fourth inning, were more to his liking: A walk followed by two doubles (one by Stephanie Medina and another by Samantha Holle) and a single.

On the defensive side, Diez groused how his pitcher Alex Hartshorn wasn't sharp, even though she allowed only two hits.

"Yeah, I know," Diez said, "but she's better than she was today. I know she is."

Nonetheless, the victory moves the Chiefs (24-4) into Friday's regional semifinals, a place where Diez hopes his team finally finds its spark.

"I told them as I've told them many times, 'You need to play every game with the utmost intensity,'" Diez said. "Because if you don't you might just get beat."

Scott Purks

PLANT 2, EAST LAKE 1: Persistence at the plate paid off for the visiting Panthers (22-4), as
they came from behind to pull out an eight-inning victory.

Sophomore Sarah Bowling played the role of hero, sending a two-out solo home run over the right-center field fence in the top of the eighth to put the Panthers on top for good.

"I just saw it was outside and tried to take my hands to it and rip it through the middle," Bowling said

Bowling went 3-for-3 with a walk. Four Panthers had multiple-hit nights, including Talia Barron, who had a double and a triple.

Despite cracking 11 total team hits, the Panthers found themselves trailing 1-0 and down to their final out in the top of the seventh before their offense finally lit the scoreboard against East Lake senior pitcher Kim Mazzapica and the stingy Eagle defense.

After East Lake right fielder Alicia Welsh hosed pinch runner Daniella Morgana at the plate, leadoff hitter Erika Arcuri stepped in next, undeterred, and drilled the game-tying RBI single to right.

Welsh tallied the Eagles' third base hit of the evening in the bottom of the seventh to try and answer, but second base was as close as East Lake would get again.

The Eagles took their sixth inning, 1-0 lead when Plant starting pitcher Kayla Suskauer threw a bases-loaded wild pitch that allowed Alyssa Weaver to score from third. Other than that errant toss, Suskauer was lights out the rest of the night and also struck out six.

Eric Horchy

RIVER RIDGE 2, BLOOMINGDALE 1: With two innings left, River Ridge coach Ernie Beck gave freshman pitcher Lakyn Shull the keys. She delivered, striking out four of the nine batters to seal the victory.

"What I was afraid was it was the sixth inning, they've seen [starting pitcher Samantha Stahl] two or three times, they're going to be sitting on it and they're going to start rallying," Beck said of Stahl (14-2), who surrendered two hits and allowed only one runner to reach second base.

Host River Ridge (19-8) scored first in the first inning when Michelle McKonly singled to right field. On a fielding error, courtesy runner Audrey Abell scored from second.

River Ridge added to its advantage in the fifth with a double form Madison Morris to left center, scoring Jenn Karl for the 2-0 lead.

Bloomingdale (18-9) scored in the sixth off a single by pitcher Kelly Kristen, which drove in Destani Frye from second base.

"They just couldn't get excited this week, I don't know why," Bloomingdale coach Mike Clamon said. "Too many strikeouts and too many pop ups. [River Ridge] played a good game, they're very steady, but there was nothing overpowering there."

Eddie Daniels

NEWSOME 10, LAND O' LAKES 6: The host Wolves (19-7) scored eight runs with two outs in the second inning and held on to beat the Gators (18-4) in the regional quarterfinals.

Laura Lovell collected three hits and scored twice to help the host Wolves eliminate the Gators from the region playoffs for the second consecutive year.

Newsome took a six-run lead into the seventh inning, but Land O' Lakes made it interesting without benefit of a hit.

Leadoff batter Samantha Adamo reached on an infield error and scored after winning pitcher Ashley Stubbs walked two batters and hit another with one out.

Stubbs struck out pinch hitter Amanda Brazil, then walked in another run to make it 10-6. The righthander escaped the jam by getting Loren Smith, representing the potential tying run, to fly out.

"I was pitching scared," Stubbs said. "I was scared they were going to hit it. I was scared I was going to walk them. I've got to practice. I've got to practice a lot."

Bob Bellone

Class 4A
GROVELAND SOUTH LAKE 4, ZEPHYRHILLS 3: Three outs away from a berth in the regional semifinals, host Zephyrhills lost a three-run lead in the seventh to Groveland South Lake, then the game in eight innings.

The Bulldogs (20-7) built a 3-0 lead on RBI doubles by Ashley Anderton (first inning), Lacey Cook (fifth) and Sam Crews (fifth) and starter Lauren Pasquale took a two-hit shutout into the seventh. But
the first five batters reached base for South Lake (18-5) in the seventh, including a full-count, RBI double by Jennifer Anderson that chased Pasquale from the mound.

South Lake's Shania Dent followed with a two-RBI single to tie the game off Kaitlyn Hutchison, who went on to retire the side. On the first pitch in the bottom of the seventh, Anderton (4-for-4) appeared to hit a walk-off ho-mer to right, but it short-hopped the wall for a double, and she was stranded on base.

In the eighth, Hutchison walked leadoff hitter Kaci Boykin, Pasquale returned to the mound, and again, Anderson singled with two strikes to plate the game-winning run.

"I think the biggest thing is, we didn't get the biggest thing to finish it off," Zephyrhills coach Craig Milburn said.

Bart O'Connell

HARMONY 2, PASCO 1: Host Harmony avenged last season's playoff loss to the Pirates (23-4) and advanced to the regional semis.

"It was a tough, unlucky break tonight," Pirates coach Broner said. "The season was great except for the last two games."

The Longhorns were able to pick up momentum early in the game as Pasco committed four errors in the second inning.

Colesta Lazar and Lucy Schneider ledc the Pirates with two hits each, Unfortunately Pasco was only able to convert 10 hits into a single run.

The Pirates managed to get on the boqrd in the sevdnth inning as Tanesha Ranson bunted for a single, stole second and scored when Schneider singled.

"We have to soak this loss in," Coach Broner said "You can't have mistakes when playing good teams. They will take advantage of it and that is exactly what [Harmony[ did."

Jessica Etter

Class 3A

BISHOP VEROT 4, HOLY NAMES 3: Academy of Holy Names coach Roger Rivard had a difficult time seeing past the unearned runs and missed opportunities that led to the
Jaguars' extra-inning loss to Fort Myers Bishop Verot in Tuesday's regional quarterfinals.

All four of Bishop Verot's runs were unearned, including the game winner in the ninth inning. Katie Clinger scored from third base when teammate Taylor Kramer, trying to beat a throw to first, collided
with the glove of AHN's Kailee Kirkland and forced the ball loose.

"The throw was a little inside [the baseline] and the runner had every right to be there," Rivard said. "We don't usually make these kinds of mistakes."

The Jaguars had a 3-2 lead entering the bottom of the seventh when a freak play tied the contest. With runners at second and third, Rivard had pitcher Lindsey Klenn intentionally walk Verot's cleanup
hitter, Allie Mitchell. But her throw was high and catcher Becky Vyzas couldn't hang on, allowing the tying run to score.

AHN tied the game with two runs in the fifth on a RBI double by Sara Drummond and a RBI groundout by Elrz Tatro. The Jaguars grabbed the lead an inning later when Alex Valdez drilled an RBI double to right-center field.

Each team produced seven hits, but Vyzas was not among them. The near .600 hitter went 0-for-1 and Verot intentionally walked her three times, including when she led off the top of the ninth inning.

Matthew Postins

Class 2A

ALL SAINTS' 6, TAMPA PREP 4: The host Terrapins (12-6) fell short in their comeback effort
in the bottom of the seventh and saw their season end in the regional quarterfinals.

Tampa Prep trailed by three heading into the seventh and loaded the bases with one out while knocking senior pitcher Lindsey McClellan out of the game. Tampa Prep, however, scored just one run on a fielder's choice by Dana Malinowski. A strikeout ended the game.

"All season the girls have never gotten down on themselves and we are always trying to do our best," Tampa Prep coach Jessica Grace said. "That's what we tried to do tonight, but we just came up a
little short."

The game started out as a pitching duel between McClellan and Tampa Prep starter Kirsten Kelsey, with both teams combining for just three runs in the first five innings. In the last two innings, All Saints' (15-11) put four runs on the board and the Terrapins had three runs.

"Both teams just woke up," All Saints' coach Bill McClellan said. "We put the ball in play and make something happen and then they put the ball in play and made something happen."

With All Saints' holding a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning, the Terrapins' bats caught fire in scoring two runs to tie the score. Isabel Dalence got a leadoff walk and scored on an RBI double by Malinowski. Chelsea Klotz put down a sacrifice bunt, but was safe at first after an error on the throw by Lindsey Humphrey allowing Malinowski to cross the plate.

McClellan made up for giving up the lead in the top of the seventh inning with an RBI single, stole two bases and scored a run. Left fielder Ashton Brice also had an RBI double in the inning.

Charles Gonzalez

Class 1A

SEFFNER CHRISTIAN 15, BAYSHORE CHRISTIAN 5: Cara Brookshire hit a three-run homer to help power the host Crusaders (8-9) into the regional semifinals.

Jamie Cathcart and Kelsey Schubel also contributed big hits in a game shortened to six innings because of the 10-run rule.

"We just hit the ball better than them today and that was the key," said Crusader head coach Greg Fawbush.

Jordan Chariton

LAKELAND SONRISE 9, CAMBRIDGE 8: Seventh-grader Lindsay Hagberg hit two homeruns, including a two-run shot in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn't enough as the host Crusaders (9-10) lost in eight innings.

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