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Tampa Bay takes series from Durham

 
Published Aug. 12, 1999|Updated Sept. 29, 2005

Tampa Bay won three of five from Durham in a weekend series. But had it not been for a five-hit, four-run sixth inning Sunday, Durham would have gone home with the series win.

Durham led 3-0 when Tampa Bay came to the plate in the bottom of the sixth. The FireStix had only three hits for the game until then.

With four runs on the board and Heather Compton on the mound, Tampa Bay retired three consecutive batters in the top of the seventh to polish off a 4-3 win.

"I just had a feeling this team was going to come back and win Sunday," FireStix head coach Linda Derk said. "Every time I get that feeling, they always come back. Never give up on this team. They really don't like to lose."

Heather Compton earned two of the wins, improving her record to 8-9. In pitching 10 innings, she yielded only one run on eight hits and one walk.

"Up until this series, I had been lacking personal confidence and allowed myself to have mental distractions," Compton said. "But I entered this series determined to do what I knew I could do.

"Plus, I relied on my teammates completely. I only threw (two strikeouts) in two games. My teammates did their job."

The team left Wednesday for an eight-game series with Carolina. The teams will play doubleheaders Thursday through Sunday.

Next week, the FireStix play two games at Georgia then return to close out the regular season with games against Georgia on Aug. 21-22.

"We have been missing three of our regular starters for almost a month, but they will be back for the home stretch," Derk said. "I see this team going into the final 12 games as a team on a mission."

Starters returning soon are Sara Graziano and Christine Parris-Washington, who both play first and third base, and shortstop Ali Viola.

"With Sara, Christine and Ali back in the lineup and the strength in the ones who have had to step up a level to help us stay on top, I feel like we are starting out a whole new season," Derk said. "The comeback Sunday was great."

Parris-Washington took a leave of absence to work out with the Canadian national team. She was hitting .382 when she left.

She played for the Canadian team in the 1996 Olympics and helped it qualify for the 2000 games.

Graziano and Viola were injured.

The best-of-three championship semifinals will be Aug. 24-25, with the second-place team hosting the third-place team. The winner will travel to Akron, Ohio, to play the team finishing first in another best-of-three series for the league championship.

Tampa Bay will host a playoff game only by finishing the regular season in second place.

_ TERRY JONES