The Keys' winter sports season officially came to a close this past week, while the spring sports kicked off their regular seasons.

The Marathon High boys basketball team -- the county's lone state playoff qualifier -- fell in the first round of the Class 2A state tournament Thursday night to visiting Dade Christian, the same team that knocked the Dolphins out of the state playoffs in 2004. Key West senior Paul Leatherwood was the lone county wrestler, out of 11 who made the trip to Lakeland, to medal in this past weekend's state championships. Meanwhile, the Key West and Coral Shores High baseball teams opened their seasons in the six-team "Bash on the Beach" Classic at Rex Weech Field.

The baseball Conchs got their season off to a strong start with a 10-0 win over Sagemont to open the three-day event, but closed out the Classic with back-to-back losses to Gulliver Prep and Braddock. Following Saturday's 12-5 loss to the Bulldogs, during which the Conchs committed six errors and had just one extra-base hit, coach Miguel Menendez had his players run sprints in the outfield and the team had a long discussion afterward in left field.

"I was just really frustrated with our effort," the coach said. "It wasn't so much the loss, but moreso I didn't think we showed up to play."

Menendez said a lot of the talk centered on trying to become more consistent, an area he described as the team's Achilles' heel over the past few years.

"We seem to be up and down and only get up for big games or rivalry games," he said. "We played with a lot of intensity in the Gulliver game Friday night, and I challenged them before the game Saturday, and we just looked like we didn't want to be there."

Coral Shores fared better in the event, finishing 2-1 with the lone loss coming in extra innings against Chaminade. Gulliver, which went 3-0, was the lone team with a better record than the Hurricanes.

Despite the poor finish, Key West got some encouraging signs from the first two days. The Conchs dominated their opener, during which they racked up 10 hits and won in the sixth inning due to the mercy rule, and looked strong in Friday's 4-2 loss to Gulliver, which is coming off an appearance in the 3A regional finals.

In that loss to the Raiders, Key West starting pitcher Michael Arencibia went five innings and allowed just two runs -- both in the first. The Conchs made some noise late, loading the bases with no outs in the sixth and putting two men on with one out in the seventh, but couldn't come up with the big hit when they needed it.

Nolan Thomas came up big for the Conchs at the plate throughout the three days. He finished the event 5-for-9 with a three-run homer, a double and five runs scored. Johnny Montsalvatge also had a strong weekend at the plate, finishing 5-for-10 with an RBI and five runs scored.

In addition to the pitching, Menendez said he was also pleased with the play of second baseman Michael Henriquez, who finished 4-for-7 at the plate with 2 RBI. He also reached three times after getting hit by pitches, and had a solid defensive showing.

"He played with a lot of fire and emotion all weekend," Menendez said.

The Conchs will return to play Friday at home for the first of a two-game series with Coral Springs Charter. Menendez said he is expecting sophomore shortstop Michael Abreu to return for that series. Abreu hasn't played since turning his ankle prior to the preseason opener two weeks ago against Atlantic.

When Key West returns to practice today, Menendez said the team will focus on improving its hitting.

"Overall, I thought we played pretty well," he said of the three-day Classic. "Up until Saturday, we pitched well and played defense well, we just didn't swing the bats."

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The Keys wrestling teams, were able to send a record 11 matsmen to the 1A State Championship over the weekend. Despite having only two wrestlers -- Paul Leatherwood from Key West and Daniel Doyle from Coral Shores -- still in action on the second day of the state-wide meet, the Keys wrestlers were still able to put on a good showing during the meet. Only three of the Keys wrestlers went two and out in the double elimination tournament, as the Conchs and Canes combined to win 11 matches during the championships.

In the end, Leatherwood would be the only matsmen to return to the Keys with any hardware, placing sixth in the 189-pound weight class, but nevertheless it was a truly successful season for wrestling. Key West reached all-time highs, matching the best team finish, with the 2003 squad, as the Region 4-1A runners-up. Adding to the Conchs success, State Champion Ralph Major Jr. qualified for the National Junior College championships. The sophomore from Pratt Community College will learn is seeding today for this weekend's tournament.