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Rotary Rallies (Again), Edges Elks

POOL PARADISE WIN SETS UP SHOWDOWN

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Rotary’s JC Cobb, center, is congratulated by Adam Greenslade, left, and one of his coaches after scoring the winning run on Wednesday in the bottom of the seventh of the Dixie Majors (ages 10-12) city tournament at Max Long Sports Complex.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: May 29, 2008

SEBRING — Comeback wins have become commonplace for Rotary in the postseason, and Wednesday was no exception.

After rallying from a seven-run deficit on Tuesday, Rotary came back to tie the game in the fifth and JC Cobb's single scored the winning run to lift Rotary to a 10-9, seven-inning victory on Wednesday over Elks in the Dixie Majors (ages 10-12) city tournament at Max Long Recreational Complex.

"We're fortunate to come from behind for the second straight game," said Rotary coach Bobby Cannon. "What amazes me is that we did it against one of the top pitchers (Tyler Bertonier) in our league. We just never gave up."

After the Elks went down in order in the seventh, Cobb — who had gone 0 for 3 with an RBI prior to his big at-bat — strolled to the plate with two outs and Ty Little at third.

Cobb took two strikes and Cannon walked over to talk to his batter, who in turn ripped the next pitch down the line into right and was mobbed by teammates and coaches.

Cannon wanted no credit for what Cobb did at the plate when asked what he said to his young batter.
"I just told him to calm down and put the ball in play," Cannon said. "He's the one that put the bat on the ball. This was all him."

The win advanced Rotary to face Pool Paradise on Thursday, who defeated Highlands Today 12-1 in Wednesday's other semifinal match-up. See Saturday's Highlands Today for full results of Thursday's action.

Elks head coach Bill Westergom was pleased with his team's effort, but foresaw the type of game in the makeup of each team.

"We knew this game was going to go down to the wire," Westergom said. "We're similar teams in that we don't count ourselves out until that final out. They just came back and nipped us at the end tonight.
"That's what I love about the tournament. It's all about close plays and your fortunes can change with one bad play."

The Elks had a chance to overcome that one bad inning that allowed Rotary to score three runs in the third.

In the sixth inning with the score tied at nine, the Elks squad had Bertoniere and Ryan Davidson at second and third with one out, but Alex Gomez struck out the next two batters to end the threat.

Bertoniere nearly single-handedly kept the Elks in the ball game with his pitching and timely hitting: He went 3 for 4 and drove in three runs and pitched five innings and gave up no earned runs and struck out six. Both teams traded shots throughout the contest, with Rotary taking a 7-2 lead after three innings due to fielding errors by the Elks squad that allowed three runs to score.

But the Elks put together a rally of their own when Leroy Conner doubled with two runners on to plate a pair and an RBI double by Andrew Dean and a two-run single into center by Bertoniere tied the game at seven and shifted the momentum to the boys in blue.

After Gomez scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to put Rotary up by a run, the Elks Jordan Strickland scored on a throwing error and Cameron Cobb's walk with the bases loaded plated Jacob Cram and gave the Elks a 9-8 advantage.

Cannon was impressed with the Elks style of play and their desire to win.
"I tip my hat to the Elks," Cannon said. "They're a heck of a team and they gave us all we could handle. Every time I thought we were up for good, they battled back."

The Elks scored two runs on an RBI single by Ryan Davidson and a run-scoring double by Bertoniere in the top of the first, but Rotary came right back with two runs of their own compliments of an RBI grounder by Cobb and a 200-foot solo blast by Gomez to knot the score at two.

"Alex has been hitting like that all season," Cannon said. "He's maybe only 10 years old, but he plays like he's 20."

Pool Paradise 12, Highlands Today 1
SEBRING — Top-seeded Pool Paradise jumped out to a four-run lead after the first inning and never looked back, as they defeated Highlands Today 12-1 on Wednesday in the Dixie Majors (ages 10-12) city tournament at Max Long Recreational Complex.

Johnny Peck, Andrew Starkey and Trey Frazier combined to drive in six runs and Garrett DeRoss went 3 for 3 to lift Pool Paradise to the championship final.

Pool Paradise battled Rotary on Thursday. For results, see Saturday's Highlands Today.

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