Wake-Up Call: Teammates stand behind Schuster - a lot

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!

Mitchell High School left-hander Patrick Schuster pitched his fourth consecutive no-hitter - a Florida high school record - in Monday night's 5-0 victory against offensive-minded Pasco High. Here are some numbers to digest:

Schuster faced 25 batters. Pasco put the ball in play just six times - two groundouts, an attempted bunt neatly fielded by Schuster, two moderately deep fly balls to right field and one error by the shortstop. There was one walk and one hit batsman.

The rest were strikeouts - 17 of them - most with the batters either hopelessly waving at a 90-plus-mph fastball or frozen in place by an off-speed pitch.

That was the case on Schuster's 106th pitch, a slider taken by Pasco's Trejon Smith for a game-ending called strike three.

"The kid didn't even budge,'' Mitchell catcher Doug Burlett said. "When Patrick has it going like that, you don't have to do that much other than watch it happen.''

Ah, but sometimes that's a difficult job, too.

"Every time somebody makes contact, you're on the edge of your seat,'' Mitchell coach Scot Wilcox said. "At times, the other guys might be a little tight. Nobody wants to be the one [not to make a play]. It can get kind of anxious out there because you want it to happen so badly. But everybody on this team has been behind Patrick, making the plays when they needed to be made.''

Leading off the second inning, Pasco's Jorge Jaramillo hit a high bounder to Mitchell third baseman Joe Koehler, who was momentarily fooled, but leaped to glove it, then throw to first.

"I was kind of shocked,'' Koehler said. "Normally, I get short choppers. It hopped kind of funny on me. I made a late reaction. My heart skipped a beat for a second.''

In the fifth and seventh innings, Pasco's Brennan Allen made good contact with long fly balls down the right-field line. Both times, Mitchell right fielder Steve Brown was there for the play.

"You get a little nervous because you don't want to ruin it for Pat,'' Brown said. "It's kind of weird because when the ball is actually hit. It's almost startling. Mostly, it's strikeout after strikeout. You're just standing out there, watching strikeouts. But you've got to be ready because if they hit it to you, you've got to be there.''

Schuster, a prime target for June's amateur draft who already has signed a scholarship with the University of Florida, broke the state record of three consecutive no-hitters (Gonzalez Tate's Ben Webb in 1985 and Jefferson's Sam Militello in 1987). Now he's two behind the all-time national prep record.

How long can this continue? Stay tuned. Schuster will go for consecutive no-hitter No. 5 next Tuesday night in the Class 6A-District 7 tournament semifinals at Countryside High School.

"This is very, very rare,'' Burlett said. "You don't think he can keep doing this, then he pulls another one out. Amazing.''

"It's going to feel very strange when somebody gets a hit off him,'' Koehler said. "There's so much pressure, but he seems to be just loving the moment. Coming into tonight, I would've said it's almost impossible [to get another no-hitter], but he proved us wrong.''

Schuster, who surrendered his last hit March 24 (a double by Alonso's Ray Delphey), said he realistically didn't count on a fourth no-hitter.

"I walked in today saying, 'Everyone is going to be disappointed in me because I'm going to give up a hit,' " said Schuster, who has 60 strikeouts in 26 innings during his no-hit streak. "Look, it's going to happen one of these games. When it happens, I won't be disappointed. Hopefully, it's at the beginning of a game. What has happened so far, there's no way anybody could expect that. We're just going to keep on riding with it.''

So far, it has been the ride of Schuster's life - and all of his teammates are joining in.

Raburn tears it up

Toledo Mud Hens OF Ryan Raburn (Durant), who turned a few heads while playing five positions with the Tigers' major-league team last season, leads the International League with five home runs in 11 games. On Friday, his 28th birthday, Raburn went 3-for-3 (including a homer) and made two spectacular catches.

Masset shines for Reds

Cincinnati Reds reliever Nick Masset (Pinellas Park) is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in three appearances. Masset had designs on earning the No. 5 starting spot - a job that went to Micah Owings - but said he hasn't given up on that possibility.

"If something happens, if somebody gets injured, no matter what the situation, I'm always ready,'' said Masset, who was traded from the White Sox to the Reds as part of last season's deal for Ken Griffey Jr.

LaCrosse fourth at Big East Tournament

Louisville's Cindy LaCrosse (Plant) is in fourth place after two rounds of the Big East Conference women's golf tournament at Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club in Dade City. LaCrosse, who shot a 76 on Monday, is at 2-over-par 146 (with a three-way tie for the lead at 1-over 145). Third-round play for the Big East women and men is today.

Tucker's hitting streak ends

University of Florida freshman first baseman Preston Tucker (Plant) saw his career-high hitting streak end at 10 games Sunday. During the streak, he batted .477 (21-for-44) with 31 RBIs, 15 runs scored, seven home runs and six walks.

The Gators (26-14) travel to Fort Myers today for a game against Florida Gulf Coast University at Hammond Stadium. It's the second game of a doubleheader, which begins at 4:05 p.m. with a Florida State League matchup between the Fort Myers Miracle and Palm Beach Cardinals.

The University of South Florida, ranked No. 29 in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's latest poll, travel to Gainesville for a Wednesday night game with the Gators.

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Cadillac Williams, the franchise's first-round pick in 2005, who turns 27 today.

The Answer Man

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

Todd Zeile hit home runs with 11 different teams, a major-league record. Zeile's lineup: Cardinals, Cubs, Phillies, Orioles, Dodgers, Marlins, Rangers, Mets, Rockies, Yankees and Expos.

Tuesday trivia

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

From the 65 college programs currently members of BCS conferences (Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-10 and Southeastern), which is the only school never to have a player appear in a regular-season game with the Bucs?

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