A Stunner!

Maybe it had something to do with the 96-hour rain delay they went through. Or maybe it was the 80 runs and 81 hits they totaled in the three wins they had Friday night.
But whatever it was, Raymond James won three straight games late Friday night at Veterans Memorial Park to capture the Hernando County Recreation Department Softball "C" Division Championship Tournament as they beat MGM Hair Salon twice, 27-6 and 33-2.
The tourney semifinals began Monday night at the Anderson Snow Sports Complex between Raymond James and Capone's  Pub. But that game was rained out and was eventually rained out for three straight days before the two teams could finish the game Friday.
In that semifinal tilt, Raymond James overcame an early deficit to beat Capone's 20-8 and advance into the finals of the double-elimination tournament.
Six players for Raymond James had three hits in that game, led by Josh Dutiler who had a home run and four runs batted in.
Then in the first game of the title series, Raymond James sent 17 batters to the plate in the first inning and scored 11 runs to coast to an easy 27-6 win.
Erik Stocker led RJ by going 4-for-4 with two home runs and nine RBI in the game. Joel Montanez and Theo
Woods each had five hits in the game as Woods drove in four runs while Dutiler finished 3-for-3 with a home
run.
In the final game, RJ again jumped on MGM early and often, scoring six runs in the first inning, 12 in the second and seven more in the third to win 33-2 and take the HCRD crown.

Hitter's paradise
 
Overall, it was the hitting of Raymond James that dominated the evening.
In the three games they played, Stocker led the team by going 12-for-13 with 15 RBI.
Also for Raymond James, Woods had 11 hits and 11 runs batted in while Craig Martin and Montanez each drove in nine runs as RJ pounded out 23 extra base hits in the three games.
RJ manager Perry Covault, whose team went 1-2 in last year's playoff and lost some of their players, said a
friend helped him recruit some of the key players for this year.
"We had some good players who lived in Tampa and they didn't return this year because of all the travel
involved," said Covault Friday. "So a friend of mine introduced me to Craig Martin and he brought in guys like Theo Woods and Erik Stocker."
The weird part of Friday night was that MGM had beaten Raymond James earlier in the tourney.
"We lost to these guys last week," said Covault. "We had an 8-run lead going into the seventh inning when they scored 11 runs to beat us. It's funny, since I started coaching this, I hadn't been able to get over the hump to win
until now."

Raymond James 20, Capone's Pub 8
CAP   330 020 --  8  8  3
RJ      401 761 -- 20 24  1
2B - Desmond Jr. 2 (C'S); Dutiler, Martin, Stocker, Woods, Palaia (RJ).
3B - None.
HR - Duitler, Martin (RJ).
Raymond James 27, MGM 6
RJ        (11)04 66 -- 27  24  1
MGM      0 10 50 --  6   9  4
2B - Jo. Rodriguez (MGM); Stocker, Woods (RJ).
3B - Montanez, Martin, Williams (RJ).
HR - Grotto Jr., Mauda (MGM); Stocker 2, Dutiler (RJ).

Raymond James 33, MGM 2
RJ     6(12)7 35 --  33  33  1
MGM    0  0 1 10 --   2   6  3
2B - Montanez, Covault, Stocker (RJ).
3B - Martin 2, Williams, Wederman (RJ).
HR - Woods (RJ); Mauda (MGM).