March 20, 200620 yr JUPITER ? While the Florida Marlins traveled to Port St. Lucie on Sunday for a game against the New York Mets, starting pitcher Dontrelle Willis threw five innings of a simulated game on one of the back fields at Jupiter's Roger Dean Stadium complex. Manager Joe Girardi had Willis ? who spent most of March competing with the United States in the World Baseball Classic ? throw 75 pitches. Advertisement "I felt great. I could've thrown more," Willis said. "I was pitching off of my fastball, trying to get into a good count where I could throw something with some tilt." Willis didn't allow anything hit hard off of him. In his second inning of work, he successfully snared a line drive back at him. His control was a problem in his outings at the Classic, but the left-hander had little trouble Sunday. He walked only one. "I got myself in trouble by not throwing strikes," Willis said. "I had that great defense behind me, but I didn't let them put it in play." Despite the U.S. team's disappointing results, Willis raved about his experience in the Classic. "It was unbelievable," he said. "A lot of people thought it wouldn't have the postseason feeling since it's so early in the season, but it was there. Everybody left it out on the field. "Running ... with people like Roger Clemens and bonding with those veterans was something I'll never forget. We did something together as a team about every night." QUICK HITS: Scott Seabol ? one of the lowest round draft picks (88th) to appear in the major leagues ? went into Sunday's game hitting .333 and hopes to gain more playing time at third base with the Marlins. http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/pro_baseball/art...4554606,00.html
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