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Sebring Rallies Past Lake Placid

Mark Pinson/Highlands Today

Lake Placid's William Ebersole scores under the tag of Sebring pitcher Alex Gomez on a wild pitch in the fifth inning of Saturday's Dixie AAA District 8 tournament at Max Long Recreational Complex.

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By Mark  Pinson | Highlands Today

Published: June 15, 2008

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SEBRING – Trailing by three runs and down to its last three outs, Sebring showed a lot of heart by exploding for 11 runs en route to a stunning 12-4 win over Lake Placid in Saturday's third round of the Dixie AAA (ages 9-10) District 8 tournament at Max Long Recreational Complex.

The win kept Sebring unbeaten in the six-team, double-elimination tournament, and set up a game against once-beaten Avon Park on Sunday afternoon.

"That was an unbelievable comeback," said Sebring head coach Bobby Cannon. "To be able to battle back in our last at-bat says a lot about the desire and character of the kids on this team.

"We were too aggressive at the plate most of the game, but our pitchers kept us close and we finally got the bats working before it was too late."

The disappointing loss knocked Lake Placid into the loser's bracket and set up an elimination game against Okeechobee American on Sunday afternoon.

"We played well except for one bad inning," said Lake Placid head coach Mike Warner. "We had Sebring rattled and on the ropes, but we couldn't put them away.
"I'm proud of all the kids and I'm sure we'll bounce back and be ready for for our next game."

Results from Sunday's games were not available at press time.

Look for the complete stories and pictures in Tuesday's Highlands Today sports section.

Sebring, which outscored its first two opponents 20-0, got on the board in the top of the third inning when Adam Greenslade singled, stole second and scored on a double to right-center field by Gerig Blackman for a 1-0 lead.

Lake Placid answered in the bottom of the frame.

Travis Russell drew a two-out walk off of Sebring left-hander Jason Cannon and Alan Vega singled to right field.

Sam Weber-Callahan followed with a double down the left-field line to score Russell and Vega for a 2-1 lead.

Sebring had runners in scoring position in the fourth inning, but Russell made a shoestring catch in left field to end the threat.

Lake Placid kept the pressure on in the bottom of the frame as Tyler Farmer lined a leadoff double, moved to third base on Angel Ojeda's single, and scored on Alyssa Priest's single to center field for a 3-1 lead.

Sebring managed just five hits through the first five innings against right-handers Diego Mireles Weber-Callahan and Farmer.

Lake Placid struck again in the bottom of the fifth inning.

William Ebersole reached on an error, a pair of walks by Alex Gomez loaded the bases, and Ebersole raced home on a wild pitch for a 4-1 lead.

Facing defeat, Sebring roared back behind its potent attack.

Jordan Austin drew a leadoff walk off of Farmer, Connor Cook singled and Trey Frazier walked to load the bases.

Gomez stroked a single to center to plate Austin, and Jimmy Peck roped a single to left field to score Cook.

Seth Cannady kept the rally going with a single up the middle to bring Frazier in with the tying run.

Cannon blooped a single to left field to score Gomez with the go-ahead run.

Nick Staffieri then lined a two-run single to right field and an infield error allowed another run to score.

In all, Sebring sent 16 batters to the plate in the inning to take an eight-run lead.

Lake Placid put a pair of runners on base in its final at-bat, but Gomez, who earned the win with two innings of relief, got the last batter to ground out to end the game.

"Back in the past, they called Sebring the cardiac kids because they were always coming from behind," said coach Cannon. "That's what we had to do today and I think the kids were trying to hit home runs and not staying patient at the plate, but luckily, we got things turned around in the last inning."

A Sebring win on Sunday against Avon Park would guarantee a spot in the championship.

"We're going to do whatever it takes to win that game," said coach Cannon. "If we have to burn our pitching we'll do that, because the top two teams qualify for the state tournament.

"Our goal is to qualify for state and and we're just one step from doing that."

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