Dukes claim district baseball crown
Published 11:50 am Thursday, May 21, 2009
Curtis Harrell pitched a two-hitter with four strikeouts and just one walk to lead Windsor High School to a 10-0 route of Sussex Central in the championship game of the Tri-Rivers District tournament Wednesday. The game was cut short by the 10-run rule.
The Dukes (14-4) now head into regional play and will host a first round game in the Group A Region A tournament against Nandua High School on Tuesday.
Chris Horne led the Windsor hitting attack, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored. John Speight was 1-for-2 with an inside the park homerun and Austin Winkles scored three runs.
Windsor head coach Bruce Carroll said Harrell’s performance could be an indicator of how far the Dukes can go in the postseason.
“He had some injuries earlier in the year and was out for about two or three weeks before he got started,” Carroll started. “Today was the first day he showed signs of being able to throw four or five innings in a big game. If he holds true to that, it gives us a much better chance to move on.”
Carroll said his team will have to make some adjustments to postseason pitching that the Dukes don’t normally see in the TRD.
“Fortunately for us, the kid form Sussex threw really hard today. He had some fastballs that probably hit 80 at times. He locates well at times,” Carroll said. “It’s going to be a tough adjustment.”
Carroll said Windsor played Nandua, the second place team in the Eastern Shore District, last year and split with them in a doubleheader.
“They were young. I anticipate them being pretty good,” he said.