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Fierce Hardee Rally Caps Win Over AP

Brian Gjurgevich/Highlands Today

The Hardee bench pulled out all the stops - and all the team's rally caps - to earn a victory over the Red Devils on Tuesday.

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By BRIAN GJURGEVICH

Highlands Today

Published: March 26, 2009

AVON PARK - The Hardee baseball team kept lurking, and in the seventh inning on Tuesday, the Wildcats finally pounced on Avon Park, scoring three runs to steal a 4-2 Class 4A-District 10 victory over the Red Devils at Head Field.

"This is about the fourth or fifth time we've been in that situation," said Hardee coach Steve Rewis after his team rallied behind starter Michael Dixon (CG, 9K, 7H, BB, ER) and put three on the board late with three hits and three walks. "It was close enough where a break could go our way and we'd still have a shot.

"They're pretty resilient, and they keep believing. We try to preach, 'play 'till the last out,' and it worked out our way tonight."

The Red Devils, who left nine runners on base, had men at second and third with two outs twice in the game, but both times solidly hit shots screamed into Wildcat gloves and zeroes were left on the board.

"The hits have to come together," said AP's Buddy Duke, who was 3-for-4 with two doubles only to be stranded all three times. "We played great defense and pitched good, we just have to put some hits together."

Second baseman Chad Marley said the Devils need to "toughen up," but not on themselves: "We get ahead and we give them a little bit of a cushion," Marley said. "We don't fight like we're supposed to - we're making plays on defense, we just have to be tougher in the box and go after the pitcher."

AP coach Mort Jackson joked that perhaps his team is simply "too nice."

"They get out there with a lead and they tend to coast a little bit," Jackson said. "One or two hits in one or two situations and we could've pulled away and won this ballgame."

The Devils (3-10, 2-5) jumped ahead in the first when Ty Jackson followed a Buddy Duke double and Kyle Jackson single with a RBI groundout to put AP up 1-0. They went up two in the third when Kyle Jackson picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice following three Wildcat errors, which scored Matt Rivera.

Hardee got one back in the fourth when Conner Davis knocked his second double of the day to score Scott Donaldson from third.

The Wildcats (5-6, 4-3) then threatened in the top of the sixth, but two defensive gems put the inning away; A 6-4-3 double play and an acrobatic over-the-shoulder grab by Dylan Heiring that bounced off his outstretched glove and back into the leather as the first baseman went to the ground in foul territory.

"We've put together three great defensive games in a row," Mort Jackson said. "We've spent a tremendous amount of time on defense to get better. They've done a great job coming around, playing great defense and pitching good, but now we're going to have to start focusing on getting the big hit or moving the runner."

Hardee tied it in the seventh when Ben Krause drew a bases-loaded walk to score Carson Davis and took the lead when Donaldson followed with a single up and Conner Davis drew another walk.

The Red Devils put their first runner on in the bottom of the seventh and Duke doubled to put the tying runs in scoring position, but Dixon fanned the next two batters to preserve the win and spoil an otherwise gutsy performance from Kyle Jackson, who fanned six and walked five over 6 1/3 innings.

"The defense has improved greatly because we've worked hard at it," said AP's Josh Rodgers, who had a single. "When we're shagging balls we're doing everything in game situations. We just need to start hitting the ball with men in scoring position."

The Red Devils will look to put it all together at 7 tonight, when they host LaBelle.

Brian Gjurgevich can be reached at 863-386-5841 or bgjurgevich@highlandstoday.com.

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