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Softball: LOL Holds Off River Ridge

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By EDDIE DANIELS

edaniels@tampatrib.com

Published: March 19, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - Land O' Lakes coach Jamie Martin made sure she took a few extra moments last week to speak to her team.

The Gators (9-0) had just collected a 5-4 victory against River Ridge, but it wasn't pretty. Land O' Lakes built a 5-0 advantage heading into the home half of the sixth, but River Ridge eroded that with four runs in the bottom of the seventh.

"To be honest with you, I expected more. A lot more," Martin said. "These girls worked too hard to only have one, maybe two good innings. We left a lot of runners on base. We should have come together a little bit more as a team to get them in."

Martin said she was satisfied with the start of the game. Four of her first seven batters got hits, including a leadoff triple by Sam Adamo and a homer to left-center field by Jessica Austin. Martin was also happy with the hustle of center fielder Loren Smith.

River Ridge can thank its reputation for forcing the issue. The Royal Knights are known for coming from behind, and the Gators were not able to coast to the victory.

"A lot of it is we didn't have much comfort," Martin said. "This is a team that you really can't sit back on. Even if you get five, even 10 runs on a team like this, they have a knack of that seventh-inning comeback on us. I'm starting to think it's a little bit of a curse."

SWING BATTER, BATTER: Tuesday night, Wiregrass coach Amy Lipovetsky had an observation: Her team had yet to adjust its batting from its previous game against Mitchell and Pasco. They faced some serious heat against those two, but they couldn't adjust to Sunlake freshman Meghan Durbin's off-speed pitches. Durbin led her team to a 3-0 victory, getting her first shutout for the Seahawks.

"In batting practice, we have to adjust in different ways," Lipovetsky said. "As a coach, I try to do my best to know what we're about to face the next day, so that's what we look at in practice. It didn't work out Tuesday night for us."

LATE STARTS: If River Ridge (8-3) doesn't stop, it could grow accustomed to clawing its way back into games. Land O' Lakes was the most recent example. On Feb. 26, the Knights had to overtake Sunlake after falling behind, 4-1. River Ridge won, 12-6.

"That's been our story," River Ridge coach Ernie Beck said. "We need to start inning one and play seven."

Coaches who want to add their team's information can contact Eddie Daniels by calling (813) 948-4214 or e-mailing

edaniels@tampatrib.com.

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