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Sharks Suffer Colossal Collapse

SOFTBALL

Photo by JOE DiCRISTOFALO

Nature Coast catcher Jen Marshall looks to pick-off a Sunlake base runner Wednesday night in East Pasco County.

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By TONY CASTRO SPORTS EDITOR

Hernando Today

Published: March 25, 2009

LAND O’LAKES - Moments after Nature Coast Technical's softball team blew a 6-run cushion to lose 8-6 to host Sunlake High Wednesday night in East Pasco County, second-year Shark Head Coach Mettina Couet attempted to search for answers.
"If I could point to one thing, I'd have done it," insisted Coach Couet. "It's very frustrating right now. Player-for-player we know we have a great team. But I don't know what it is. If anything, it's a combination of things."
Biggest positives in the heart-breaking loss?
"We made some things happen and we had people in the right spots," she added. "Right now, obviously, we're staying positive and we'll try again and come out hard for the next game."
The Sharks, who broke open a scoreless pitchers' duel with six unearned runs on five hits and three Seahawk errors in the fourth inning, appeared poised to snap its two-game losing funk.
The visitors thought they had done enough to solve Sunlake for a fifth consecutive meeting. In the other four lifetime encounters, NCT had never dropped a game outscoring the Seahawks by 29 runs or 40-11 overall.
The Sharks (9-7 overall, 8-7 4A-8) collected 10 hits off freshman right-hander Meghan Durbin. Shawnna Henry, Jen Marshall and Kelsey McManus helped the visitor's cause with two hits apiece.
Through three innings, NCT's All-County right-hander Ashley Antczak also appeared in control allowing one harmless single.

See-saw affair

But with the Seahawks down 6-0, Head Coach Jonny Dawkins' team never quit. Senior Samantha Dittman, who came in hitting .569, began the comeback with the first of her two hits, a single to left in the fourth. Durbin added a single down the leftfield line before Karra Fischer's ground out plated Dittman, 6-1.
In the fifth, SHS erupted for four runs on five hits and capitalizing on the Sharks' only error of the game.
With one out and sacks loaded, Dittman coaxed a bases-loaded walk – one of three free passes from Antczak – to plate Shelby Stohler, 6-2.
Durbin then grounded through the shortstop's legs for a costly error scoring two runs, 6-4.
Three batters later, Amanda Solar's infield single plated courtesy runner Chelsea Tejas, 6-5.
The Seahawks momentum spilled over into the sixth.
With two outs, Courtney Durbin singled and immediately scored on a booming RBI double to right-center by Dittman, 6-6.
Dittman scored on Fischer's RBI infield single off Antczak's ankle, 7-6. Meghan Durbin closed out the scoring by racing home on a wild pitch, 8-6.
The red-headed Durbin closed out the game retiring the heart of the Shark lineup in the seventh, including Antczak, Marshall and McManus to enable the hosts to climb to 12-6 overall and solidify its third-place grip in 4A-8 at 9-5.
What was Meghan Durbin thinking when the Seahawks fell behind 6-0?
"I knew our defense was there, it was just a matter falling in place," admitted the 14-year-old Durbin, who improved to 12-6 on the season behind three strikeouts and no walks.
"The run support was huge," smiled Durbin. "This win was big because it puts us a good place for districts. I thought Sam (Dittman) was a big help tonight."
For her part, Dittman praised her diminutive pitcher.
"Meghan just keeps pitching and pitching," commented the 18-year-old Dittman, who according to her team statistics came into the contest with 49 RBI. "She's our little warrior. When we were down 6-0, I thought we were gonna lose not because of our pitching but because we weren't playing like a team."
How crucial was the 4A-8 victory?
"We'd never beaten them," said Dittman. "We had practiced a lot in anticipation of this game. We knew we really needed this game."
From the home dugout, Coach Dawkins heaped praise on the entire squad.
"It was a good high school game and I'm real proud of the kids," he said. "Being down 6-0, we could have folded, but the kids showed a lot of character.
"We kinda hung in there and finally starting putting the bat on the ball," he added. "The big thing was we stuck together as a team. Even though we down 6-0, I was telling the kids, we've still four at-bats left. I know I never lost confidence with these kids. The key for us all season is our defense. When we play defense we can play with anybody."
How critical was the win?
"This (win) was huge," he replied. "We can still control where we end up in districts. We've got Pasco and Zephyrhills coming up."

Sunlake 8, Nature Coast 6
123 456 7 R H E
NCT 000 600 0 -- 6 10 1
SNL 000 143 X -- 8 12 3
NCT – Antczak and Marshall.
SNL – M. Durbin and Solar.
W – M. Durbin (12-6). L – Antczak (9-7).
2B – McManus (NCT); Dittman (SNL).
3B – Henry (NCT).
Records – Nature Coast Technical (9-7 overall, 8-7 4A-8), Sunlake (12-6 overall, 9-5 4A-8).

Sports Editor Tony Castro can be reached at 352-544-5278 or online at acastro@hernandotoday.com.

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