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Softball: Land O' Lakes takes one from Mitchell

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By EDDIE DANIELS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 15, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY What was once a spotless Sunshine Athletic Conference record is now slightly blemished.

It took Land O' Lakes a little more than an hour and a half to do to Mitchell what others in the SAC couldn't do all season – walk away with a victory. The Gators pounced early and rode the arm of ace Michelle Bradley to a 2-0 victory.

"Every year that I've coached, this has always been a good rivalry game," Land O' Lakes coach Jamie Martin said. "They played solid. Michelle pitched a tremendous game. That really shut [Mitchell's] bats down.

"There were nice plays tonight; there was a lot of communication going around and we even had a couple of above-average plays in the field tonight."

Bradley (8-1) struck out five batters, pushing her season total to 100 strikeouts in 226 innings pitched.

Mitchell (16-7, 8-1 SAC) still has a slight advantage in the race for the Sunshine Athletic Conference title. If the Mustangs beat Zephyrhills Friday night, the squad will hold on to win the county title – their first since 2007.

Land O' Lakes (14-2, 8-2 SAC) needed only the first frame of action to collect its two runs.

Sam Adamo led off with a single. The next batter, Loren Smith, nearly hit into a fielder's choice, but a defensive error allowed her to reach first base safely.

Bradley clubbed a pitch to left, scoring Adamo and giving the Gators, the defending SAC champs, a 1-0 advantage. Angel Bullock loaded the bases after being hit by a pitch.

A wild pitch allowed Smith to score from third, giving Land O' Lakes a 2-0 lead.

After last week's 11-5 victory against Pasco, in which the Mustangs tallied 13 hits, Tuesday night's effort was disappointing for Mitchell to say the least.

Mitchell's first and only hit of the night did not come until Ciara Seymour's fifth inning double to left field.

"That's just been the way the whole year's been," Mitchell coach Scott Bisbe said. "We can't win two big ones in a row. We go down there and beat Countryside and two days later, bobble [the ball around defensively] and lose to Gaither. It's kind of the way this team's been."

Mitchell will finish its regular season Friday when it hosts Zephyrhills. Land O' Lakes will host Hudson Thursday night and travel to Naples for the Bill Longshore Memorial Softball Classic, which the Gators have won the past two seasons.

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 948-4214.

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