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Hancox leads Ridgewood to a 6-3 victory

Starter pitches strong and goes 3-for-4 to beat rival River Ridge.

By JAMAL THALJI

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 28, 2001

NEW PORT RICHEY -- Sorry all you chiropractors out there. Ridgewood coach Larry Beets and his Rams feel better already.

Beating visiting crosstown rival River Ridge 6-3 on a cold Tuesday night, ending a three-game losing skid against the Royal Knights, brought sweet relief to Ridgewood.

"We finally got the piano off our backs," Beets said. "It's been there forever. That piano was big, and it just wore down on us.

"I felt like I was gonna slip a disc."

It was Dave Hancox on the mound, and he and Derek Kuryliw at the plate that gave Ridgewood the win.

Hancox (4-1) pitched seven innings, allowed four hits, struck out three and walked two. He also was 3-for-4, including two doubles and an RBI. Kuryliw went 2-for-4 with three RBI, including a two-run home run in the third.

River Ridge's Chad Justus (2-3) took the loss. He allowed five runs on five hits and one walk in five innings. He struck out two. Joe Savino and Brandon Dellechiaie had two doubles apiece, and Savino had two RBI.

Hancox knocked in Mike Sentner, and Kuryliw's two-run homer gave the Rams (11-6) a 3-0 lead in the third. Hancox's sacrifice fly in the fourth made it 4-0.

In the sixth, Savino had a two-run double and Tom Dillon had a run-scoring sacrifice fly for River Ridge (11-6).

"We didn't come to play for the full five innings," River Ridge coach Jack Homko said. "We didn't play with the emotion, with the intensity, that we needed to. We came out pretty flat, and we should be up for this game.

"This is our big rivalry."

Beets said the win could be the start of a run in Class 5A, District 9. Ridgewood's district record stands at 2-4 with games against Gulf on Friday and Palm Harbor University on Monday.

"This is the kind of win that can put a team right back in the race," Beets said.

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