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Highlands Today

Blue Streaks Trample Tigers

Mark Pinson, Highlands Today

Sebring third baseman Cody Hoffner tags out Clewiston’s Miguel Romero in the fifth inning of Monday night’s game.

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By MARK PINSON Highlands Today

Published: April 1, 2009

LAKE PLACID - Sebring junior right-hander Sheldon Williams overcame some early nerves to earn a win in his first varsity start and cousin Gus Williams earned the save with two innings of two-hit relief to lead the Blue Streaks to a 9-2 win over Clewiston in Monday's first round of the Bill Jarrett Spring Break tournament at Roger Scarborough Stadium.

Sheldon Williams scattered two hits, allowed one run and struck out three in his five innings of work.

"I'm pretty happy with my performance," Sheldon Williams said. "I could've thrown more strikes and gotten ahead of more batters, but overall I'm pleased with how I threw.

"I had a little bit of butterflies the first few batters, but after that I settled in, threw strikes and let my defense go to work."

The loss dropped Clewiston to 6-8 overall, while the non-district win improved Sebring to 11-6.

"Pretty much everybody contributed tonight," said Blue Streak veteran coach Hoppy Rewis. "We got a great five innings from Sheldon and Jesse Baker continues to hit the ball well and drive in runs.

"Sheldon has to work on covering bases better and Gus is our semi-closer and does a good job of throwing strikes."

Sebring jumped on top in the first inning when second baseman Matt Randall singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Baker for a 1-0 lead

Clewiston tied the game in the bottom of the third inning when Martin Crawford singled, stole second base, moved to third on a fielder's choice and scored on a wild pitch.

Sebring answered in the fourth when Baker singled off of Clewiston right-hander Isandro Marquez, Cody Hoffner singled and catcher Josh Chavis lined a run-scoring single to center.

First baseman Corbin Hoffner followed with an RBI single to right field to give the Blue Streaks a 3-1 lead.

"Marquez is a tough pitcher and always gives us trouble," Rewis said. "He's a good athlete and throws strikes."

Marquez, who allowed seven hits and three runs, was lifted after five innings and right-hander Cody Thomas came on in relief.

Sebring, with the aid of a pair of walks and an error by the Tigers, scored two runs in the sixth and the Blue Streaks tacked on four more runs in the seventh.

Gus Williams breezed through the sixth, but a pair of hits, a hit batter and a walk forced in a run before the hard-throwing right-hander got a fly ball to right field to end the Tiger threat.

Sebring played Frostproof on Tuesday in the second round of the three-day, six-team tournament, which concludes today.

Also competing in the tournament are Avon Park, First Academy and host school Lake Placid.

"We're just trying to keep playing well while we're on spring break," Rewis said. "We're trying to stay healthy and we have an important district game at Hardee on Friday.

"That's tough because the kids are out of school on Thursday and you know they aren't going to stay home, but hopefully, they'll be ready to play."

BASEBALL: First Academy 10, Avon Park 6

Ty Jackson knocked a home run to put the Red Devils up 6-3 heading into the fifth, but First Academy of Orlando rallied for a 10-6 victory over Avon Park in the early game Monday at the Bill Jarrett Spring Break tournament at Roger Scarborough Stadium.

"Defense let us down," said AP coach Mort Jackson. "Our pitchers ran out of gas and we had some walks and hit batters."

The Devils (3-13 overall) managed six hits, but couldn't get much offense going past the fifth.

"They went back up and scored three more in the sixth," Mort Jackson said. "We had hits, but other than Ty's home run, they were all singles."

AP took on Lake Placid in the late game on Tuesday. See Thursday's Highlands Today for complete coverage, including photos and reaction.

Mark Pinson can be reached at 863-386-5837.

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