No Panic Attack Quantum Step Taken

For the third time this postseason local Dixie Youth League baseball heavyweights - South Lake and Spring Hill American - tangled late Monday night in the third round of the winner's bracket of the AAA Majors (ages 11-12) State Championship Tournament at muggy Ridge Manor Community Park.

Coming in, the talented Lake County team guided by Head Coach Mike Padgett had tattooed SH American twice during late June's District 6 Tourney in Wildwood (15-3, 11-3) en route to its district title. SH American finished runner-up.

But in Monday night's sloppily played 2 1/2-hour rematch, SH American took advantage of the constant gifts the South Lake team was doling out for a 'pinch me I wouldn't have believed it unless I was there' 8-5 come-from-behind nod.

"It was an ugly game," admitted SH American skipper Shawn Laferty. "But I'll take it. It was one of those games of who was gonna make the last mistake. Thank goodness we didn't."

What was the difference this time compared to the other meetings?

"(South Lake pitcher Danny) Gonzalez threw the game of his life against us last time," replied Coach Laferty. "Tonight, he just looked off. He was never in any rhythm."

How pivotal was the win?

"This (win) is huge," Laferty remarked. "But we warned the boys, tonight's win doesn't mean a thing if we don't come out ready to play Tuesday."

And what about the Spring Hill heroes?

"Austin's (Treverton) homer was sweet," Laferty said. "It calmed us down a little bit and gave us a little cushion going into the bottom of the sixth. And what can I say about Blake? He pitched great. He did his job. I'm real proud. When we were down 4-1, I told the boys to stop crying and to get their heads back. I think we listened."

The win improved Spring Hill American to 7-2 overall and maintained its unblemished record at states at 3-0. It played the only other unbeaten squad in the original 12-team field, Okeechobee, last night.

Okeechobee (2-0 states) received a bye on Monday.

It's South Lake early

Coach Padgett's squad appeared poised to make it three in a row early against SH American.

Spring Hill opened the scoring in the first as Brandon LaMondra drew a bases-loaded walk off shaky South Lake starter Gonzalez plating Blake Laferty, 1-0.

Gonzalez survived the first frame enticing Danny Schonborn to ground out stranding the three runners. All told, Spring Hill hurt itself stranding 11 runners on bases, including seven left in scoring position.

South Lake tied the score on catcher Garrett Cole's RBI single in the bottom of the first, 1-1.

A three-run second highlighted by Joey Passino's two-run homer to left-center and Adan Ordonez's RBI single forced the SH American skipper to remove starter Vito Tambasco, 4-1 South Lake.

Here, SH American skipper Laferty opted for his son, Blake, to replace Tambasco.

The right-hander responded to the call by scattering three singles across the next 4 2/3 innings. He permitted one run (unearned), walked four and struck out seven.

Though Spring Hill trailed by three runs, South Lake pitchers Gonzalez and Matt Garner continued to be in a charitable mood combining for 11 walks, three wild pitches and two hit batsmen.

Bases-loaded free passes to Treverton and Schonborn plated two runs before Gabe Vazquez hit a tough in-between hopper to the shortstop Ordonez.

Ordonez flipped the ball to second base, but the relay was too late. And while the South Lake infielders protested the call, not only did Tambasco score but so did Treverton to seal a four-run third, 5-4.

South Lake's only run off Laferty came courtesy of a throwing error by Treverton on a potential double steal in the third tying the game at 5-5.

Spring Hill's leadoff batter, red-hot Josh Lopes, snapped the tie in the fourth.

Lopes led off with a single off the reliever Garner, who closed out the third. Lopes advanced to second on a wild pitch, reached third after Evan Webster walked and Laferty was hit by a pitch. With one out, Lopes scored on a passed ball off Cole, 6-5.

That's the way it remained until two outs in the sixth when Tambasco reached on a fielder's choice and Treverton tomahawked the first offering to him over the right-centerfield fence for a clutch two-run homer, 8-5.

Reaction

Vazquez, who finished 1-for-3 with two RBI, praised his teammates.

"Blake always pitches great," said the 12-year-old Vazquez. "His fastball is nice, but his knuckleball is crazy."

How huge was the win?

"It was big," answered Vazquez. "They beat us twice at Wildwood. We wanted to show them what we could do."

Laferty thought the difference was lack of panic in the dugout after trailing 4-1.

"We all knew we had to stay focused," pointed out the 12-year-old Laferty. "I thought Austin's homer was nice. It kinda took the pressure off of me and the rest of the team."

"The homer felt good," recalled the 12-year-old Treverton. "Tonight, was a good win. Blake pitched real good. We might see them again later, but tonight was sweet."