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Chamberlain, Bloomingdale not done yet

TAMPA -- Brad Johnson's two-out home run in the bottom of the 10th inning gave Chamberlain an 8-7 win over Deltona on Tuesday, sending the Chiefs to the final four.

The Chiefs (14-12) won their third straight game after finishing the regular season below .500. They will play East Lake (29-4) at 8 p.m. May 17 in a state semifinal at Legends Field.

"Going to states was a long shot, but we always thought in the back of our minds that if we could string a couple of wins together, we could get there," Johnson said.

For the third straight game, the Chiefs rallied from an early deficit and won in their final at-bat.

Tuesday, the Chiefs had a 3-2 lead after one inning, but fell behind 7-3 after a three-run fourth by the Wolves (22-9).

"We don't get down because this has happened to us three games in a row," pitcher Steve Howard said.

Chamberlain made its comeback in the sixth.

Back-to-back RBI singles by Rocky Rocamora and Clay Spivey brought Chamberlain to within 7-5. After a popout to first by D.J. Burruezo, second baseman Chris Noriega singled into the hole to score one run, but Deltona shortstop Tommy Cauley came up with the ball to halt Devon Cason at third. Johnson brought Cason home with the tying run when his chopper to second was mishandled by Mike DiNapoli.

Howard was roughed up for three unearned runs in the fourth Tuesday when the Wolves put together a pair of Chiefs errors with a two-run homer by Kris Gawriluk. Howard got a strikeout to end that inning and shut down Deltona in the next two before giving way to Mark Scalise with two outs in the sixth.

Scalise got the final out of the inning, and when the Chiefs evened the score in the bottom half, Chamberlain coach Dick Rohrberg turned back to Howard, who threw four scoreless innings, allowing one hit.

That set the stage for the lefty Johnson to power a 1-0 fastball from Wolves sidearm reliever Scott Chapman over the 310-foot sign in right-center.

Bulls shock Sarasota 4-2

SARASOTA -- They had a losing record before districts, drove more than 1,000 miles for three playoff games the past week while fighting a team-wide stomach virus, and yet the Bloomingdale Bulls are still alive.

Not only did they win 4-2 at powerhouse Sarasota on Tuesday night, but the victory vaulted them into next week's state final four.

Do you believe in underdogs or what?

The Bulls are now 16-15. On Tuesday, they beat James Houser, who was 7-0 with a 0.42 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 65 innings, the same Houser who struck out 18 Bulls, allowing one hit in an 11-0 Sarasota victory earlier this season.

This time, however, Bloomingdale got six hits and Sarasota made three throwing errors that led to three runs, which were all the Bulls needed with Brian Batson and Chris Kemper on the mound.

Batson, though saying he didn't have his best stuff, was nearly flawless through five innings, facing one hitter over the minimum.

In the sixth, he gave up a single and a walk and promptly handed the ball to Kemper, who worked the final two innings after getting a complete-game victory Friday at Taravella.

Bloomingdale took a 1-0 lead in the third when Jake Stein singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error from the shortstop.

Then in the fifth, Bloomingdale got three runs on three hits, a wild pitch and a throwing error by Houser.

"I'd have to say we let one get away from us tonight," Houser said. "We're a better team than we showed today.

"But hey, that's baseball. Sometimes you get the breaks, sometimes you don't. Things just didn't go our way tonight."

The Bulls will play Hialeah at 5 p.m. May 17 in a state semifinal.

-- SCOTT PURKS

Northside thumps Lancers

ST. PETERSBURG -- For 33 games, the term "final four" has been taboo around the Northside Christian field. After coming heartbreakingly close last season, the Mustangs wanted to focus on each game before thinking about the state tournament.

That ban was finally lifted.

Northside batted around twice in the first two innings as 24 batters collected 11 hits and scored 14 times en route to an 18-0 win over Seminole Presbyterian.

The Mustangs (32-2) will play South Daytona Warner Christian in a state semifinal at 5 p.m. Monday at Legends Field.

Tuesday's game was just a continuation of Northside's dominating postseason. The Mustangs outscored their three region playoff opponents 43-2 and have allowed two runs in their past six games.

"We've been pretty focused," coach Darrell Don said. "One year ago, we stood here and lost to King's Academy 2-1 and the taste that left was incredible. The kids weren't willing to accept that."

The Mustangs dominated Seminole Presbyterian (28-6), holding the Lancers to four hits and taking advantage of four errors in the first two innings to score 14 runs. Five of those runs came courtesy of David Scott, who homered in his first two at-bats. Lastings Milledge added his 15th home run of the year in the fourth.

"We wish them all the luck in the world so that we can say we got beat by the best team in the state," Seminole Presbyterian coach J.J. Pizzio said.

-- MIKE READLING

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