Baseball: Tarpon Continues Winning Ways

Tarpon Springs High proved there would be no letdown after Tuesday night's statement win over Class 5A, District 9 rival Dunedin by jumping on Countryside early for a 5-1 road victory.

The Spongers scored three runs in the top of first inning and starting pitcher Tommy Organ took advantage of the cushion.

Organ tossed six quality innings of shutout ball and never allowed one Cougar baserunner to advance past second. The senior scattered four hits during his work and also induced three double-play balls.

"I was focusing on getting the ball down and out, and I got a lot of ground balls," he said, while then crediting his team's continued improvements with the leather. "Our defense has gotten so much better and really stepped up lately. It makes things so much easier out there."

Tarpon used their bats to get to work early when leftfielder B.J. Woods skied an RBI double to left-center to plate leadoff man Brett Foster, who reached base on a single. Matt Freburg and Dan Robinson later tallied RBI's of their own in the first.

While Organ whittled away the Countryside lineup, Woods led the Spongers at the dish. The senior went 4-for-4 with two doubles, two singles, two RBI's and two runs scored.

The Spongers scored once more in the fifth when Nic Dublino's base hit plated Woods, and then again in the sixth on Woods' second RBI that drove in Steven Lynford.

Countryside's lone run came in the bottom half of the seventh. Sophomore Dominic Monda went deep to left off of Tarpon relief pitcher Junior Robinson. The Cougars then threatened a comeback by putting runners on second and third, but Robinson closed the game down by striking out catcher Dan Torres on a 2-2 breaking ball.

Tarpon will try to close out a perfect week Friday night when it travels to District 5A-9 foe Largo High. A victory would put the Spongers on a three-game winning streak.

"This has been a great week and hopefully we end it with another win against Largo," Organ said.

BOX SCORE:

TARPON SPRINGS- 300 - 011 - 0 --- 5
COUNTRYSIDE- 000 - 000 - 1 --- 1

TOP PERFORMERS:

Tarpon Springs

Tommy Organ - W, 6.0 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 DP
B.J. Woods - 4-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 2B, 2 R
Brett Foster - 1-for-3, R, 2 SB, BB, Diving PO in Rightfield

Countryside

Dominic Monda - 1-for-3, HR, RBI, R
Spencer Wilson - 2-for-3
Daniel Torres - Threw out 2-of-4 steal attempts