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Citrus Park Faces Tough Task At Plate Tonight

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By JOEY JOHNSTON The Tampa Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 21, 2008

Updated: 08/21/2008 12:11 am

There's no time for the Citrus Park All-Stars to bask in accomplishment. Even though there's great pride in reaching tonight's U.S. semifinals in the Little League World Series at Williamsport, Pa., everyone knows the reality.

The stakes are higher.

The bar has been raised.

Citrus Park might need to play its best game this summer in order to defeat pitching-heavy Lake Charles, La. First pitch is set for 8 on ESPN.

Louisiana is expected to start right-hander Kennon Fontenot, 12. He's a 5-foot-9, 155-pounder who had 15 strikeouts in Louisiana's opening win against Mill Creek, Wash.

Fontenot's pitches have been clocked at 80 mph or higher. With the Little League pitching mound closer to home plate (46 feet) than the familiar distance of major-league baseball (60 feet, 6 inches), Citrus Park batters will be facing the equivalent of a 100-mph pitch in the big leagues.

"He throws gas," Citrus Park manager Joe McGuire said. "But we're good at hitting fastballs. When our bats get going, we can hit people."

Citrus Park's confidence is soaring after Monday night's 8-2 seven-inning victory against Shelton, Conn. With his team two outs from elimination, Kevin Merrell unloaded a game-tying home run. Then, Citrus Park blasted three more homers during a six-run seventh inning.

"We finally got going," said Merrell, who is 6-for-9 with two homers and five RBIs in Williamsport. "Once we get started, we're fine. We just need to get started earlier in the game."

Against Fontenot, that can be a difficult task.

"I can't get over how good a pitcher he is," said Scott Mahlum, manager of Mill Creek, Wash., who saw his first eight batters strike out against Fontenot on Saturday afternoon. "He's a fantastic pitcher. If there's somebody that age who throws harder, I'd like to see it."

Fontenot reached the 85-pitch limit with one out in the sixth inning (64 were strikes). He had first-pitch strikes on 17 of the 21 batters he faced. Louisiana figures to go with him tonight, perhaps with an eye on having him ready for a potential world-championship game on Sunday (Little League rules state a pitcher must rest two calendar days and one game).

But Louisiana's pitching staff has more - namely, right-hander Trey Quinn, a 5-foot-11, 154-pounder who already can grab the rim on a regulation 10-foot basketball goal. Quinn had a 12-strikeout no-hitter against Jeffersonville, Ind., on Sunday. He never allowed a ball out of the infield.

McGuire said Citrus Park probably will counter with Merrell or Levi Gilcrease on the mound (Wyatt Reid, another regular starter, is unavailable). McGuire's son, Michael, had been the Citrus Park ace, but he remains unable to pitch because of an arm and elbow injury.

McGuire is hopeful that Citrus Park has purged itself of a bad game - it lost 10-2 to Hawaii on Sunday night, ending an 18-game winning streak this summer - and can play with a pressure-free approach.

"It means something to be in the last four teams of the U.S. field," McGuire said. "Had we lost to Connecticut in pool play, I'm sure it still would've been a big thrill to have reached Williamsport.

"But getting out of pool play is a great thing. It's special. If we can put everything together, it's going to get even more special."

Reporter Joey Johnston can be reached at (813) 259-7353 or jjohnston@tampatrib.com.

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