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Phillies Soar To Flawless Finish

PERRY ONE-HITS BRAVES TO CLAIM AP CITY TITLE

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Phillies ace Tyrone Perry was pushed to the limit against the Braves in the championship final of the Dixie Youth Majors (ages 11-12) city tournament at Durrah Martin Sports Complex on Thursday.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: May 30, 2008

AVON PARK — Winning championships is never easy, and Bagwell Bomber Phillies coach Willie Perry didn't hold back when talking about what his boys had accomplished this year — a perfect season.

"This was the toughest game we've played all season and against a really good team that came to play tonight," Perry said while congratulating his team after the game. "We came into this season with a bullseye on our back after winning the championship last season, and we responded to the challenge."

The Phillies were tested at every turn by the Bill Jarrett Ford Braves, who stood up to the undefeated team and gave themselves a chance for the upset.

But in the end it was the Phillies who squeaked by with a 4-3 victory on Thursday in the championship final of the Dixie Youth Majors (ages 11-12) city tournament at Durrah Martin Sports Complex.

The Phillies finished the season with a perfect 13-0 record for the second time in three years.

"This is even more special than the first time we went undefeated," Perry said. "These kids worked so hard and never lost focus. The Braves gave us all we could handle tonight. My knees are still knocking."

The game seemingly in hand for the Phillies, as they held a 4-1 lead heading into the final inning, but the Braves put the favorites on their heels, as Kyle Kelley belted a 250-foot, two-run homer off the roof of the building in deep centerfield to cut the lead to one.

Moments later, the Braves threatened again when Silva reached base on a fielding error and Zack Farr drew a walk to put the tying run in scoring position with no outs.

But Perry showed the size of his heart, as the Phillies ace struck out the next two batters to give him some breathing room. On the next pitch, Tyle Heiring hit a grounder toward second base and the tying run crossed the plate, but an interference call against the Braves nullified the run and the game was over.

"I thought we gave Tyrone a pretty good cushion going into the final inning," Coach Perry said. "But the Braves showed that they were going to go down fighting. I give a lot of credit to Tyrone for sucking it up after giving up the home run and coming back strong."

The reason for the anxiety on the part of Coach Perry was the ultra-relaxed attitude the Braves came into the game with: They never once looked intimidated against a Phillies team that regularly blew out their opponents by double digits this season.

"We gave a lot of respect to the Phillies because they're a good team," Braves starting pitcher Moises Silva said. "But we were never going to be intimidated by them. We knew we had the talent to beat this team. We just came up a bit short tonight."

Silva pitched the game of his life, as he gave up just two runs on four hits and a pair of walks, while striking out seven for the Braves. After giving up a first-pitch solo homer to the Phillies Tyrone Perry in the third, Silva settled down to strike out four of the next six batters he faced.

"My circle-change was working really good for me, and I used that to keep their big hitters off balance," Silva said. "I just went out and hit my spots."

Tyrone Perry matched his Braves counterpart pitch for pitch and looked to be at the top of his game: He gave up just one hit and three walks while striking out a staggering 12 batters on the night.

Mykel Gordon got the Phillies on the board first by driving in Tyrone Perry with a single into right field in the bottom of the first, but the Braves responded when Livingston beat out a play at the plate on a fielder's choice to tie the game.

The Phillies scored two in the fifth on back-to-back fielding errors by the Braves that plated Trey Perry and Gordon to give them a 4-1 lead heading into the final inning.

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