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BASEBALL
+ Chargers shine in U. Tampa tourney
Fall ball is in full swing now, and things have been looking good for the Strawberry Crest Chargers. Last week, they competed in the University of Tampa’s annual fall tournament and went undefeated.
Although the Chargers didn’t get to play the third game of the tournament, thanks to Mother Nature’s meddling, conditions were good enough for them to beat Pinellas Park High School, 3-0, on Thursday, Sept. 25, and follow up with a 5-0 win over Jefferson on Saturday, Sept. 27.
Crest’s staff, led by winning pitcher Brandon Harris, gave up just two hits to Pinellas Park, a team that boasted 10, .300 batters last season. Against Jefferson, freshman Damien Torres picked up the win.
In the two games, Jeff Murray led the Chargers’ offense with two RBI and a double. Colin Allman had four hits and two runs scored, Mark Moclair scored one run on three hits and Harris got an RBI.
VOLLEYBALL
+ Area teams control district
Volleyball’s regular season is coming to an end soon, with approximately four games left to play. And, just like last season, this year’s district is dominated by Plant City-area teams.
Although Crest didn’t have such a strong outing in the Wharton Harvest Tournament, it’s since rebounded with a pair of wins at home — a 3-0 sweep of Tampa Bay Tech on Sept. 23, followed by a 3-1 win over Plant City on Sept. 30 that completed a season sweep.
The Lady Chargers will now look to avoid a season sweep at the hands of Durant on the road Monday, Oct. 6, at 7:30 p.m.
The Lady Raiders, meanwhile, are reeling after three straight losses. Two came against Bloomingdale and Newsome in last week’s Hillsborough Community College Lady Hawk Invitational, in which Plant City went 2-2, and then there was the Sept. 30 game against Strawberry Crest.
They’re probably looking forward to Monday’s 7:30 p.m. home game against East Bay, which hasn’t won a game since Sept. 16. After that, the Lady Raiders will travel to Durant on Thursday, Sept. 9, to try and avoid another season sweep.
This year hasn’t been as kind to the Lady Cougars as last year’s impeccable run was, but that’s not to say that Durant’s been playing badly. It may have racked up more losses in the first week of September than it did all of last season, but beating Strawberry Crest and Plant City next week would guarantee another district crown.
The Cougars picked up three straight 2-0 tournament wins over George Jenkins, St. Petersburg and Lakeland last week and will benefit from a strong home crowd.