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Palatka Hopes Hitters Can Hang With Pasco Counterparts

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By CRISTINA LEDRA

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 8, 2008

Palatka baseball coach Matt McCool believes his team has done well getting to the region finals, which start Friday, behind solid pitching and defense.

What concerns him is whether his batting order can match Pasco's.

"We have several pitchers that are competitive," McCool said. "Defensively, we're a scrappy bunch and we've done a good job with our pitching and defense but I've heard nothing but good things about Pasco's lineup from 1-9."

Friday, Pasco travels to Palatka (22-8) for the best-of-three region baseball series that will determine which team will advance to the state tournament in Sarasota.

All region final games will be played at Palatka. The first game is at 4 p.m. and the second of the doubleheader is 30 minutes after the first game is done.

Pasco and Palatka will alternate as the home team for the first two games and the home team for the third game, if necessary, will be determined by a coin toss.

Palatka's two top pitchers are Charlie Overturf (7-3) and Brandon Lee (6-2). Both have an ERA around 2.00. McCool said it depends on how the first two games play out whether the pitching staff has enough depth to be strong in a possible third game Saturday.

As many pitchers as Palatka has, if Pasco goes through the Panthers' pitchers in an offensive outburst, as the Pirates have been known to do, Palatka could struggle on the mound Saturday.

"I like our chances," McCool said. "Our kids have worked hard all year long. Our guys have done a good job of throwing strikes and defensively, like I said, we do a pretty good job and if we can do that and be consistent with it, we'll have a chance."

Palatka started the season 4-4 and continued to improve after that. The Panthers won the Class 4A-District 5 title by beating Ponte Vedra Beach Nease 9-3, then topped Belleview 4-1 in the region quarterfinals and Nease again 3-1 in the semifinals.

"Each game we try to improve in all areas," McCool said. "But I think we need to put some more runs on the board against Pasco and like I said, I've heard nothing but good things about Pasco Coach Ricky Giles and their program and their kids."

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