TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Anything Goes In Tournament

ADVERTISEMENT

By DAREK SHARP

dsharp@tampatrib.com

Published: March 25, 2009

PLANT CITY - Getting the first-round bye for the district tournament is always a plus, and one of the benefits of finishing in first place.

But for District 6A-8 in softball, the top seed might be relatively meaningless.

Plant City and Durant have discovered that 6A-8 is a collection of evenly matched - and good - squads. Lakeland is the weakest of the group, but the other six teams have proven capable of beating each other.

Take the March 11 meeting between the Raiders and Cougars. Though Plant City entered the game in first place and Durant was tied for fifth, there was no discernable difference on the field as the rivals engaged in a scoreless duel through 10 innings. Plant City broke through in the 11th for two runs and a 2-0 victory.

"It was a tight and very intense game for both teams," Raider head coach Heidi Kouveras said. Durant's Erika Wetherington went the entire 11 innings, while Megan Still and MacKenzie Audas split duties for the Raiders.

Plant City catcher Taylor Storey was 4-for-5 on the night, and her double made it 2-0. Tara "Red" Thomas started the inning with a slap-bunt single, moved to second on freshman Mackenzie Macavoy's bunt and scored on a Cougar error.

Both teams had great defensive plays, seemingly most coming with two outs and a runner in scoring position, as the game went scoreless. Raider sophomore Alix Hooker made a running catch to end the 10th inning, when it looked as if Wetherington had a game-winning single lined up.

The win put the Raiders at 6-1 in district play, but in their next league game they fell 3-0 to Sarasota. The Sailors had only one district win coming into that one.

East Bay and Riverview are Plant City's top challengers for first place. But the next group of three, Durant, Sarasota and Sarasota Riverview, is also tough.

Pitcher Kayla Cox for East Bay shut out the Raiders 1-0 and handled Durant's bats in a 4-1 decision on Feb. 24, and she looked to be taking the reins as the district's top hurler. But on March 11, Riverview put up 10 runs against Cox.

Right after that game, Riverview was tested before losing 6-5 to Sarasota. And Sarasota Riverview might finish as the sixth seed, but holds wins over East Bay and Durant.

When Plant City and Durant stepped out of district play last week, the Raiders beat Hillsborough 13-0, and Durant slammed Brandon 11-0. Kelsey Horton was 3-for-3 with a homer and four RBIs for Durant.

The standings likely won't get un-jumbled until district play concludes next week. Before that, the Raiders and Cougars will get another look at Riverview and East Bay, and maybe each other, at the Spring Fling tournament in Brandon.

A 12-team field includes the four 6A-8 squads along with Academy of Holy Names, Alonso, Brandon, Bloomingdale, Jefferson, Plant, River Ridge and Robinson. Durant is scheduled to play Alonso at 3 p.m. Friday, and Plant City, which gets a first-round bye, gets the River Ridge-Holy Names winner at 7 p.m. Friday.

The semifinals are at 11 a.m. Saturday, and the championship will be decided at 2 p.m. J.C. Handley Park is the site of all the games.

Durant went to a tournament in Tallahassee two weekends ago, winning its first two games before dropping the next two. On March 13, the Cougars edged Jacksonville Bolles 2-1. Kelly Jones had two hits and an RBI, and Lauren Wolfe got the start and complete-game victory on the mound.

Wetherington hit a two-run homer and split the pitching duties with freshman Emily Godheim in a 2-0 win over FSU High. On March 14, Durant lost 3-2 to Winter Park and 7-0 to Madison County.

Durant and Plant City wrap up district play April 3.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT