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Devils Slug, Slide Past Streaks

Brian Gjurgevich/Highlands Today

Avon Park’s Heath Barnes slides home after a wild pitch while Sebring’s Matt Musto watches the throw home slip past on Thursday during the Red Devils’ 7-6 victory at Head Field.

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By Brian Gjurgevich | Highlands Today

Published: February 9, 2008

AVON PARK — The Avon Park baseball team spent much of its preseason practice time on defense, but you wouldn't know it by the Red Devils' slug-heavy 7-6 victory over rival Sebring on the opening night of the AP First Pitch Classic at Head Field.

The Devils hammered out 10 hits, including two home runs, and held off a Blue Streak rally in the top of the seventh to preserve a bit of early-season bragging rights.

"I didn't expect him to pitch to me after I hit a home run off them last year," said AP's Kyle Jackson, who was 3 for 3 with a homer and two runs scored. "It's a good way to start our season off. We hit the ball pretty well in practice this week, so we figured we'd come out and pound."

Three other Red Devils — Heath Barnes, Chad Marley and Terrill Conner — had two hits a piece, with Barnes sending his own shot out of the yard in the second inning.

"It was a fastball right down the middle and I just swung," said Barnes, a senior playing catcher for the first time in years. "We'd all been hitting the ball pretty well, but playing against Sebring pumps us up even more."

Sebring coach Hoppy Rewis said his team doesn't have a pitcher who can "flat-out throw it by you," and that hitting spots will be paramount to the Streaks' success this season. When they missed, he said, the Devils made them pay.

"We have to throw it where we want to," Rewis said. "Every time we got it up, they turned it around on us."

Sebring jumped ahead in the top of the first when Cody Higgins led off the game with a triple and scored on a Tony Vasquez sacrifice fly to left. Barnes answered back in the second inning, smashing the first pitch he saw well over the left-field fence to tie the game at one.

AP scored took the lead in the second when, following singles by Marley and Conner, the Devils scored on pass-ball strikeout for a 2-1 advantage after two. But Sebring evened things up in the top of the third when Cory Watt hammered his first career home run over the left-center field fence.

"I heard my pitching coach telling me to throw the hands, and that's what I did," Watt said. "It kind of lifted our team, but it couldn't get us going.

"Hopefully, there will be a few more of those this season."

The Red Devils answered back in the bottom of the third when Barnes hit a sac-fly to right field to score Corey Topa, only to relinquish the lead in the top of the fourth when Matt Musto knocked a two-RBI double to score Kyle Long (who tripled to lead off the inning) and Izzy Lopez to make the score 4-3.

"Anytime you play Sebring, you know it's never over," said AP coach Mort Jackson. "They always come back."

The Red Devils tied the game by scoring on a wild pitch in the fifth and took the lead when Kyle Jackson bombed one over the left field fence for a 5-4 Avon Park lead.

"I wasn't sure if it was a homer or not," he said. "All I knew was when I hit it, it felt good."

AP went up 6-4 when Barnes scored on a wild pitch, and after Sebring scored on an outfield error in the sixth, the Devils put another one on the board in the bottom of the frame when Sheras Hicks tripled and Matt Rivera brought him home on sacrifice bunt.

Sebring mounted a comeback in the top of the seventh, scoring on an AP throwing error, but the Streaks were stymied when an infield fly led to a double play, and Dillan Runner shut the door by striking out his final batter.

"Unfortunately, this one doesn't count," Mort Jackson said. "Of course, if we'd have lost, I'd be saying the opposite."

Said Rewis: "They swung the bat well, and we made some mental and physical mistakes. We'll have to be better."

The Streaks took on Pasco on Friday night, while the Devils battle Pasco at noon today. Both teams will play in next week's Bill Jarrett Early Bird Tournament, with Sebring taking on Lake Region at 7:30 p.m. Monday and AP battling Aubrundale at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

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