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Avon Park Blanks Sebring

Matt Flowers/Highlands Today

Avon Park third baseman Mason Jahna puts the tag on Sebring All-Star Bubba Boston in the first inning of Friday night's Dixie Boys (age 14) District 8 tournament at Max Long Recreational Complex.

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By MATT FLOWERS For Highlands Today

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 28, 2009

Updated:

SEBRING - A late, business-like eight-run outburst from the Avon Park All-Stars' offense proved to be the icing on the cake thanks to a shutout performance from pitchers Stephen Flowers, Billy Rogers and the rest of the AP defense in a 9-0 win over Sebring in Friday night's opening round of the Dixie Boys (age 14) District 8 tournament at Max Long Recreational Complex in Sebring.

Sebring ace Mark Greenaur nearly matched Flowers in a classic Dixie pitcher's duel, allowing just one run on one hit through four innings.

But a collective offensive effort in the top of the fifth and a solid finish on the defensive end earned Avon Park a spot in the winner's bracket of the five-team, double-elimination tournament.

"It was just great," said Avon Park head coach Jeff Brock. "I thought everybody contributed and did their part, especially in that fifth inning.

'We had a big inning when we needed it and Stephen Flowers pitched a whale of a game for us tonight."

Flowers was nearly untouchable, striking out seven and allowing just one hit in 5 1/3 scoreless innings of work.

Rogers capped the shutout with three strikeouts over the final two innings as the rest of the defense provided a clockwork errorless effort.

Nursing a 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth, the Avon Park offense provided the spark beginning with a beautifully placed bunt from Colton Brock.

Flowers drove Brock in with a line-drive triple to right field and Lane Crosson used some crafty base running and a couple of Sebring defensive errors to come across for a 4-0 lead.

A double from Alex Rosa kept the inning going and Alfred Brown plated Mason Jahna and Bree Fautheree with a base hit to right field.

Ryan Dick, who led off the inning, pushed the Avon Park lead to nine with an RBI single to right field to put the game out of reach of a Sebring offense that struggled to find its stroke all night.

"I told these kids we were going to bunt," said Coach Brock. "We utilized it twice in that inning and it scored about three runs for us. The others I told to find a gap and they did and came through with some big hits.

"Other than somewhat of a slow start I've got no complaints with the way they performed tonight."

Brock knows his team is capable of this kind of performance against any competition the District 8 tournament may throw at them and will lean on a deep pitching staff to stay above the rest.

"If we play defense like we did tonight and hit the ball like we did in the fifth inning more often, we could beat anybody in this tournament," said Brock. "That's not to say that we're the best, but we're going to be hard to beat if our defense plays that way behind all of the pitcher's we have to throw."

The loss put the Sebring 14s hopes of bringing a third District title to their town in survival mode, as they faced off with Lake Placid, which suffered a 15-1 loss to Okeechobee in the first round, in an elimination game on Saturday at Max Long.

Avon Park, meanwhile, made it two wins in a row by beating Clewiston by a score of 9-1 in the winner's bracket game on Saturday.

Clewiston, which received a first-round bye, dropped into the loser's bracket with the loss.

For results and photos from Saturday's games, be sure to check out Monday's Highlands Today sports section.

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