Sebring storms to state

It wasn't quite the high-scoring domination that they had displayed throughout the AAA (ages 9-10) District 8 tournament, but the Sebring All-Stars were still able to crank out seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning for a 7-1 victory over Okeechobee to claim the District 8 championship Monday night in Okeechobee.

After winning its first two games of the four-team, double-elimination tournament by a combined score of 35-3, Sebring found itself in unfamiliar territory against Okeechobee ace Baron Stuart in Monday's championship game.

The almost always potent Sebring offense was held scoreless through the first four innings, but a pitch-count discrepancy forced Okeechobee to turn to the bullpen, opening the gates for Sebring's comeback victory.

"We weren't on top of our game to start," said Sebring head Coach Dean Frazier of his team's surprising slow start. "But I told them not to stress it and to just stay patient and play defense because we knew we would have a big inning where our sticks would come alive"

With the bats yet to show up, the Sebring defense did just what coach Frazier told them to do - play defense.

With Okeechobee leading 1-0 in the top of the third, right-handed pitcher Crystal Grimaldo and company put the clamps on the Okeechobee offense.

Sebring center fielder Gabe Gomez showed off his big arm by gunning down Okeechobee's Alex Lopez in his attempt to stretch a double into a triple and Grimaldo picked up a strikeout and a force out to keep the Okeechobee lead at one.

Two more Grimaldo strikeouts in the top of the fourth and another in the fifth kept Okeechobee's lead at one and gave the Sebring offense enough time to find its rhythm.

Gomez and Daniel Simon got the decisive inning kick-started with back-to-back singles and Trey Frazier reached via an error to load the bases.

Seth Cannady came through with a clutch triple to the warning track to clear the bases and give Sebring the lead for the first time in the contest.

Back-to-back run-scoring singles by Kyle Helms and Jay Bible and an RBI double by Grimaldo capped off the scoring to give Sebring a stunning 7-1 lead.

Trey Frazier took the mound in the sixth inning and retired the side in order to seal the win and the District 8 title.

The sweet taste of victory is not a new one to the players on the Sebring squad, since most of them played together on the pitching machine team that won the state title in 2007.

Dean Frazier was the coach of that team and he has had the luxury of coaching most of these players for the last three years.

"We've been fortunate enough to have the core of this team together since they were seven," said Coach Frazier of his group of young stars. "We had them together two years ago when we won state, we were state runner-up last season, and they've really done great this year.

"They're only nine and ten years old but they always play above their years. This is a great team."

The Sebring All-Stars will look to continue their past success as they travel to Paxton, which is in the Florida Panhandle, for the AAA state tournament which begins on July 4.