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© St. Petersburg Times, published April 10, 2003
NEW PORT RICHEY -- River Ridge coach Ernie Beck scoffs at his team clinching a third straight Sunshine Athletic Conference title and being ranked No. 2 in the Class 4A poll.
The Royal Knights (18-3, 12-1 in SAC) have loftier goals, such as defending their district title and returning to the state tournament.
"Don't get me wrong," Beck said. "It's nice to be recognized, but you've still got to go out on the field and play the game."
Beck questioned his team's ranking, noting the Knights defeated top-ranked Plant (2-1 in 11 innings) at last month's Riverview tournament.
Still, the ranking "shows the program is on the map," Beck said.
River Ridge avenged a 3-2 loss to Mitchell earlier this season with last week's 1-0 win over the Mustangs.
"The kids don't like losing and we lost that one on an error," Beck said of the March 25 loss to Mitchell.
ONE UP: Wesley Chapel's first four-game winning streak set a record.
The Wildcats have six victories, one more than their previous best of 5-21 in 2001. Wesley Chapel entered its fourth season with an 8-57 mark.
Wesley Chapel has not lost since coach Tom McHugh inserted three freshmen into the starting lineup. The Wildcats defeated Gulf twice and Pasco and Hudson once, with freshmen outfielders Randi Bloodworth (leftfield), Danielle Bailey (centerfield) and Stephanie Debroux (rightfield).
Errors have been reduced since the trio became starters, McHugh said.
BUC WOES: Coming off a one-win season and with a first-year coach, Gulf had an uphill climb to begin with.
Making matters worse is an injured lineup. Only Erica Ernst, Megan Johnson and Jessie Roush have played every game with coach Rick Hohenthaner estimating that 12 players have missed between two and 10 games.
Hohenthaner has used five pitchers, five second basemen, five third basemen and four shortstops.
"The injuries have definitely done a lot to decimate the program as far as putting players out of position," Hohenthaner said. "You feel like the little Dutch boy. There's not enough fingers to fill up the holes."