Andy Villamarzo, Times Correspondent
Friday, March 18, 2011
ZEPHYRHILLS — When Strawberry Crest coach Mindy Miltner entered her squad in the Zephyrhills softball tournament, she wanted to give her girls a different look from playing the same Hillsborough opponents week in and week out.
The results from new competition didn't differ too much for the Chargers, as they received solid pitching from Brianna Alonso and Savannah Bradley, who combined to pitch a two-hitter en route to a 10-0 victory over host Zephyrhills on Friday night.
"We've just been hitting the ball so well this season," Miltner said. "Brianna usually pitches the first three to four innings and Bradley comes in and closes it out for us.
"When we signed up for this tournament, we wanted to go into a different county and just get a different feel. It helps the girls because they're used to playing the same schools over and over."
Strawberry Crest (12-1) scattered 16 hits through seven innings and was able to score early in most innings with its great speed (four steals) and timely hitting. The Chargers also played well defensively, committing no errors. Alonso and Bradley struck out four batters in the shutout.
The Bulldogs (5-8) could not produce anything offensively, but senior Lauren Pasquale (two strikeouts) allowed only six earned runs in her outing.
"Errors has been the story of the year for our ball team," Zephyrhills coach Craig Milburn said. "But that's a good ball team over there. I wish my girls could watch (Strawberry Crest) and learn from them. They field on the run, they swing the bats well. I see the scores; they've been scoring 15-16 runs and I told the girls we played better ball tonight."
In earlier games, Mitchell defeated Hernando 2-0, Gulf edged Lecanto 4-3, Hernando cruised past Lecanto 13-2 and Zephyrhills shut out Fivay 4-0.