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Sebring Rallies To Stay Alive

EXTRA-INNING WIN FORCES DECIDING GAME FOR DISTRICT TITLE

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Sebring catcher Kyle Yarbrough tags out Okeechobee’s Noah Wilcox in the third inning of Thursday afternoon’s Dixie Boys (age 14) District 8 tournament at the Okeechobee Sports Complex.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: July 3, 2008

OKEECHOBEE — Seth Abeln can get under the skin of any pitcher in Dixie baseball when he gets on base, as he is famous for turning a single into a run.

A fielder's choice put the younger Abeln on base and the speedster turned on the jets to steal two bases to reach third base.

A couple of feints to home caused a wild pitch and in a cloud of dust the winning run came across the plate to the cheers of the Sebring faithful.

Abeln's run and timely defense gave the Sebring All-Stars a 6-5 victory in eight innings over the Okeechobee All-Stars in the Dixie Boys (age 14) District 8 championship semifinal at Okeechobee Sports Complex on Thursday.

"Seth was a man-possessed on the bases today," Sebring head coach Shone Abeln said. "This was a bit of a role reversal for us, since we were the team coming into the final after losing our first game.
"We finally got on the right side of a one-run game against Okeechobee for a change."

The win lifted Sebring into a winner-take-all tiebreaker game against Okeechobee on Thursday evening.
Results were not available at press time.
Check back for results online and check out Saturday's Highlands Today for the complete story, photos and reaction.

Abeln was still energized moments after the game, as he explained how his team has finally come up big when they needed to.

"This was just a crazy game," Abeln said. "We got our bats rolling today and Felix (Basulto) really saved us with that home run. I think this is our year to be the Cinderella."

Sebring, which eliminated Clewiston from the double-elimination tournament by a score of 10-0 in five innings on Wednesday evening, rallied from a 3-0 deficit by using heads-up base running and timely hitting from a menagerie of hitters.

Balsulto was the biggest bat of the day, as he went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI against Okeechobee.

Down 3-0 in the top of the third, Jared Cannon and Abeln reached base on a fielding error and a bunt single, respectively.

Balsulto then sent a 2-1 pitch off the right-field fence for a two-run double to cut the Okeechobee lead to one.

Sebring took its first lead in the fifth inning when Zach Osha's bloop-single into shallow center field scored Gunnar Westergom, and Kyle Yarbrough's double into right scored Tommy Bertoniere for a 4-3 advantage.

After Okeechobee tied the game at 4 in the sixth, Balsulto crushed a fastball into deep center field for the one-run lead, but the host team tied the game yet again in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings.

Coach Abeln has been pleasantly surprised by his team's performance, especially with the presence of so many new faces from last year's team.

"We have nine new players this year," Coach Abeln said. "This is a new ballclub and we're hanging with the defending state champions. I'm really proud of how these kids have come together as a team."

The District 8 winner advances to the Dixie Boys (age 14) state tournament in Marianna later this month.

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