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REGIONAL BASEBALL DAY ONE WRAP-UP: Streaks Earn Split Decision

SERIES GOES TO THIRD GAME, BUT AT BIG PRICE TO SEBRING

Jasmina Meyer/Highlands Today

Sebring’s Gus Williams is congratulated by teammates after he hit a solo home run during Game 2 of the Class 4A regional final series in Fort Myers.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: May 10, 2008

Sebring vs. Riverdale: Class 4A Regional Finals Photo Gallery

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FORT MYERS — The Sebring baseball team took Riverdale's best shot on Friday and came out on top 3-2 in the opening game of the best-of-three Class 4A regional finals at Riverdale High School, but the victory came at a substantial cost.

Streaks outfielder Kyle Long was lost for rest of the series after a collision at the plate with Raider catcher Nick Stewart and was immediately ejected from the game for intentionally colliding with another player.

Worse yet, Long grabbed his shoulder and gingerly walked back to the dugout, where upon examination by the Riverdale trainer, the initial diagnosis was a separated shoulder.

"I was a bit in shock when I saw Kyle in pain and knew how much he loves playing the game," said Sebring catcher Mike Jones. "You never want to see a teammate go down like that, but I think that really motivated us in the first game." The Streaks, however, fell 10-2 in the nightcap.

In the opener, Long went down after the Streaks took the a 1-0 lead on broken-bat single by Tony Vazquez that scored Kevin Welborn.

Long tried to make it two runs, but Stewart blocked his path.

"It was like hitting a brick wall," Long said in the dugout. "I was coming around third and I tried to dig it out. My football instincts took over, and I tried to go through him."

The Sebring outfielder was scheduled for an MRI at Florida Hospital in Sebring later on Friday, but Long waved off the examination.

"I'm not going to miss this," Long said before game two. "I think I'm more upset about not being out there than the pain I'm feeling in my shoulder."

Adam Simmons hurled the game of his life in the opener in an old-fashioned pitchers' duel. The Sebring hurler gave up two runs on six hits and fanned two, but came through in the clutch every time he was in a jam.

"I knew I had to hit my spots and keep my curve down," Simmons said. "I wasn't going to be intimidated."

With the score tied at one heading into the final inning, Sebring worked the pitching count to its advantage and finally rattled Riverdale pitcher Ryan McChesney, as the Streaks drew four walks and a bloop single into center by Jones to score two runs.

Gus Williams led off the with a walk and stole second when he slid under the tag during a rundown and the Streaks loaded the bases with a walk by Cory Watt and Jones' single.

Cody Higgins and Welborn drew back-to-back RBI walks before McChesney got out of the inning.

Simmons, who had been steady on the mound all afternoon, hung a curve over the plate that Riverdale's Cory Williams deposited over the left field fence — a solo shot — to cut the Sebring lead to just one. Simmons then gave up a single and put the go-ahead run at the plate, but a heads-up tag on a pick-off attempt at first by Vazquez and a strike out ended the game.

"I knew I had left that one up there," Simmons said of the late home run. "I just knew I had to get the next batter. That pick-off really pumped me up — I knew then I couldn't let my team down."

Simmons was able to shut down a potent Raider offense that had batted an outstanding .412 average in the regular season.

The Streaks weren't so lucky in the second game, when the Raiders pounced on the visitors with four runs in the second, including Cory Williams' two-run homer into left — his second of the day — and Sebring kept waiting for one of their patented rallies to take shape.

But that rally failed to materialize, as Riverdale showed they were not about to concede defeat when Richardson and McChesney hit back-to-back homers — Richardson's a two-run blast — and Sebring was forced to use five pitchers on the night in a 10-2 loss that forced a do-or-die final game on Saturday.

Sebring's Gus Williams tried to spark the offense with a solo shot into left-center in the second and Welborn's seeing-eye single into center in the third plated pinch runner Matt Musto to cut the lead to 4-2, but that was the extent of the offensive production.

Riverdale sophomore Nate Gahafer was methodical in his precision of setting Streaks down with his fastball. The Raider lefty allowed just two runs on two hits and fanned 10 and walked four in an outstanding performance from the underclassman.

"Having the week off really relaxed me, and I believed in my defense," Gahafer said. "Sebring had some good hitters, and I knew I had to keep them off balance and keep them guessing."

Jones had nothing but respect for the Riverdale sophomore, who gave the Streaks little to work with at the plate.

"His ball had a lot of movement," Jones said. "It's hard to get ahead in the count and to hit pitches like that."

After the final out and the second game was in the books, the Streaks looked almost satisfied that they accomplished at the very least their initial goal of earning a split and making it a one-game series.

"We had a couple of breaks in that first game that helped us out," said Sebring head coach Hoppy Rewis. "We still made mistakes on the bases and it bit us today, but we were able to come back win."

On the loss of Long, Rewis was still looking for answers and said that's what the bus ride home would be for.

"That is one of those scenarios that you can't plan for," Rewis said. "You never think about if this kid will get injured or that kid will be injured. Kyle out changes the dynamic of our lineup, offensively and defensively. Him out of the batting order leaves Tony [Vaquez] exposed and now they don't have to pitch to him.
"We're going to work through these little things. This is what playoff baseball is all about."

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