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Wake-Up Call: Gaither's Doty on a power surge

Tribune photo by JASON BEHNKEN

Doty's power surge began against King on Monday, when he hit three solo homers.

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By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 22, 2009

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The Wake-Up Call greets you each weekday with news, views and a few Tampa Bay area sports offerings to anticipate for the day and night. We encourage suggestions and contributions.

Good morning!

Gaither High School junior center fielder Drew Doty smashed a tape-measure home run Tuesday night in his first at-bat against Chamberlain, giving him four homers in four consecutive plate appearances.

Doty's power surge began against King on Monday night, when he hit three solo homers. And in his first at-bat, he missed another homer by a few feet, clubbing a triple that one-hopped off the left-field wall.

"It has been awesome,'' said Doty, who accounted for 19 total bases in less than 24 hours. "One of the best feelings I've had in baseball. But I'm not trying to hit homers. I just want to hit it hard. It has just been getting out of here. You get in a zone, I guess.''

Soon, Doty may be in a zone of his own.

Last season, he didn't have any homers for Gaither – not one.

Doty's four-homer splurge has allowed him to tie Gaither's single-season school record (nine by Julian Colson in 1996). He has a few chances to break the mark – Friday at home on Senior Night against Leto or Monday at Countryside High in the Class 6A-District 7 tournament opener against St. Petersburg High.

"The biggest thing is for us to keep winning,'' said Doty, who has added 15 pounds to his frame since last season. "It would be great to hit a few more homers, but I can't think about it like that. It just has to happen.''

So far, so good.

Thomas off to good start

Former Florida State 2B Tony Thomas (Bloomingdale) is batting .361 after nine games with the Double-A Tennessee Smokies. In Thomas' second game, he was 4-for-5 with a double, two home runs and five RBIs.

Star watch for McCutchen

Prized Pittsburgh Pirates CF prospect Andrew McCutchen (Fort Meade), playing for Triple-A Indianapolis, was 3-for-4 with a triple and home run on Tuesday night against the Toledo Mud Hens. McCutchen, the 11th overall pick in the 2005 amateur draft, is 10-for-25 in his last six games.

Mock talk

The NFL Draft begins Saturday, and the mock drafts are flying rapidly. Here are some opinions on what the Bucs will do at pick No. 19:

• ESPN.com (Todd McShay): USC LB Brian Cushing.

• SI.com (Don Banks): USC LB Clay Matthews.

• CBSSports.com (Pete Prisco): Ole Miss DT Peria Jerry.

• Rotoworld (Evan Silva): Florida WR Percy Harvin.

• Pro Football Weekly (Nolan Nawrocki): Maryland WR Darius Heyward-Bey.

• Yahoo! Sports (Matthew J. Darnell): Northern Illinois DE Larry English.

LaCrosse ties for third at Big East

University of Louisville senior Cindy LaCrosse (Plant) tied for third at the Big East Conference women's golf championships Tuesday afternoon at the Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club in Dade City. LaCrosse shot a 70-76-73-219, tying Georgetown's Carly Hunt. Notre Dame's Lisa Maunu (74-71-70-215) was the medalist. Louisville took the team title and USF finished fifth.

On the men's side, Louisville also took the title with USF finishing fifth. Louisville's Adam Hadwin (9-under 207) was the men's medalist.

Jones named USF's MVP

Sophomore guard Dominique Jones (Lake Wales) was named the John and Cynthia Ruzic Most Valuable Player for USF men's basketball during the program's awards banquet on Monday night. Jones led the Bulls in scoring (18.1), rebounding (5.6), steals (1.3) and free-throw shooting (71 percent). He has 1,092 career points, good for 14th place on USF's all-time list.

IMG Soccer Academy tryouts

The IMG Soccer Academy will hold tryouts for the boys' (U-13, U-14, U-15 and U-16) and girls' (U-12, U-15, U-17 and U-19) teams from 9 to 11 a.m. May 30-31 at Academy Park, 5689 Bollettieri Blvd., in Bradenton. IMG teams compete in the Club Directors League and the U.S. Soccer Academy League. Boys in the U-17, U-18 and U-19 divisions can call for a tryout. For information, contact Brett Goodwin at (941) 752-2467 or go to www.imgacademies.com.

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to former Bucs QB Joe Ferguson, who spent two seasons in Tampa Bay but made a bigger name for himself with the Buffalo Bills as the guy who handed off (regularly) to O.J. Simpson. Ferguson turns 59 on Thursday.

The Answer Man

Here's the answer to Tuesday's trivia question:

The University of Connecticut has never had a player appear in a regular-season game with the Bucs. Each of the other 64 schools in BCS conferences – comprising the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC – have been represented at least once with the Bucs.

Wednesday trivia

Here's our daily sports trivia question, featuring a Tampa Bay/Florida spin. Try your luck by commenting below.

Who is the only former Hillsborough County high school player to be drafted by the Bucs?

Check for the answer in Thursday's Wake-Up Call.

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