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SOFTBALL

Prep softball: John Kruk's Seacrest team takes it on the chin and in stride

Dana Caldwell
dana.caldwell@naplesnews.com; 239-253-7401

John Kruk, yes, that John Kruk, knew he had his work cut out for him when he took over the Seacrest softball program this season.

There's still a long way to go as evidenced by Thursday afternoon's 10-0, five-inning home loss against Sarasota Christian in the Class 2A-District 6 final that was to be played at Everglades City but was moved to the Stingrays' home field due to construction.

John Kruk

Seacrest (10-8) didn't manage a hit. Sarasota Christian freshman Gracie Mullett struck out 13 as the Stingrays were relegated to playing at District 5 champion Academy of the Lakes in a regional opener at 7 p.m. next Thursday.

"Hey, that's better," said Kruk, who also has been an ESPN analyst and moved to Naples six years ago. "Last time she struck out 14."

Small steps.

The three-time Major League All-Star who batted .300 while playing for the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox from 1986-95 mostly joked with his super-young players afterward.

"We coaches, we'll be making calls tonight trying to find out what we can do to get better for next week and next season," Kruk said. "They (the players) let stuff bounce off of them. They don't get too down about things. They're just worried about Saturday night. It's the prom."

Sarasota Christian (14-2) is what Kruk wants to emulate.

"They're really, really good," said Kruk, who was named the FACA District 2A Coach of the Year.

The Blazers have more talent and depth, and they wasted little time in putting the Stingrays away. After a first-inning score -- the Blazers batted first -- on two singles and three walks, they racked up three more runs in the second inning on two hits, a double-steal and a handful of Stingrays errors.

In the fourth inning, Sarasota Christian, which will host Canterbury next Thursday night, got its first out of the infield hits. Freshman McKenzie Clark boomed a double to deep left-center and junior Riley Knepp belted a single to right-center as the Blazers made it 10-0, then put Seacrest out 1, 2, 3 in the top of the fifth to finish this.

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Kruk pointed to his team's youth. The Seacrest roster includes just two seniors and mostly sixth- and seventh-graders. One of those sixth-graders is his daughter, Keira, the big reason he's doing this.

He said he has just three travel ball players -- very low for high school softball -- and that makes practices tough.

"You want to push the travel ball players, but if you do that, you lose the others," Kruk said.  "It's going to take some time. We knew it would."