Mark's Landscaping trims G.W.O.C., 13-11

BROOKSVILLE - The verdict wasn't in until the final out Monday night at Jerome Brown Community Center.

In the City of Brooksville Recreation Department men's softball tourney semifinals, Mark's Landscaping trimmed Grace World Outreach Center (G.W.O.C.) to advance to the finals, 13-11.

GWOC took an early four-run lead and stayed on top until late in the game.

Even after losing the lead, down by four, G.W.O.C. mounted a rally scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh, on a Jason Branch home run.

With two on and one out, down by two in the bottom of the seventh, Mark's Landscaping's pitcher, Rick Coleman, was able to get a pop-up to third and a ground ball out to second to end the game.

G.W.O.C. captain Jason Branch, who went 4-for-4 with two home runs, spoke after the game.

"We had a real close game, one bad inning, a couple of errors and softball, a lot of times, is a game of inches, and they beat us by two," Branch said. "We got guys on and just hit line drives right at them."

Mark's Landscaping's Charles Davis spoke about the lack of offense in the win. "Bad hitting, just mistakes, it's hard to win when you make mistakes," said Davis. "We're going to try and take it to them this game."

G.W.O.C. out-hit Mark's Landscaping, 17-13, but had seven errors compared to three by their opponents.

The loss eliminated G.W.O.C. and permitted Mark's Landscaping to advance to the finals against the team that put it in the loser's bracket, Coney Island.