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Northside, CCC, Dunedin head to final four

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 at 5 p.m. Monday in a state semifinal 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 for 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 to bring the Mustangs' team total to 58, five shy of the state record set by Zephyrhills in 2000.

"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.

Marauders move on

CLEARWATER -- State region final game. A 2-1 score in the top of the seventh inning. Winter Park Trinity Prep has the tying run in scoring position with two outs. The go-ahead run is at the plate.

Time to be nervous if you're Clearwater Central Catholic, right?

But wait. Isn't that Shawn Williams standing on the mound?

Williams, the county's leader in wins and strikeouts, induced a deep fly ball that was caught for the final out, sealing the Marauders' win and sending them to their first state final four since 1994.

Clearwater Central Catholic (30-1) will play Gainesville P.K. Yonge (24-7) in the Class 2A state semifinals Monday night at 8 at Legends Field in Tampa.

"I really wasn't too scared during that last out," Williams said. "For some reason, I just seemed relaxed out there. To me, it makes it more fun when the game is that close."

Williams allowed four hits and struck out six to pick up his 12th win and add to his impressive postseason that includes a one-hitter and a save.

"This is the kind of performance we've come to expect out of him," Marauders coach Todd Vaughan said. "Shawn battled when he was out there and hit the ball hard when he was at the plate."

Williams went 3-for-3 with a double, one of Clearwater Central Catholic's two extra-base hits.

The other came on Brandon Diaz's solo home run in the fourth inning that tied the score.

Jamie McKeon, who singled in the fifth inning and advanced to second when Logan James drew a walk, scored the winning run off a single by Justin O'Keeffe.

"It seems like all of our games have been close lately," Vaughan said. "So we expected another one tonight."

-- BOB PUTNAM

Dunedin whips Estero

DUNEDIN -- Estero pitching coach Gary White needed one word to explain the outcome of Tuesday's Class 4A, Region 3 final.

Geography.

"Who's that that pitched, Harvey? That his name? Well, we don't have kids like that in the county where we play," White said.

"He was throwing 87, 88. We don't see that. We see 82-84.

"The baseball here is just better."

A few hours after fellow Lee County school Fort Myers was hammered by East Lake, Dunedin did the same to Estero, winning 9-1 to make White's point.

The Falcons, 32-0 and ranked No. 2 in the country by Baseball America, will meet Ridgewood (26-7) at 8 p.m. May 15 in a state semifinal at Legends Field in Tampa. It will be the school's first trip to the final four since 1997.

They can thank their own patience at the plate.

Hitless through three innings, Dunedin exploded for five runs in the fourth inning and hit for the cycle. Steve Doetsch started the inning with a triple and scored two pitches later when Brian Dopirak mashed a towering home run to rightfield.

After singles by Gene Novak and Jamie Garris, Joey Engelberger doubled in a run and the rout was on.

To that point, Estero junior Travis Roy had managed to keep the Falcons off-balance. But after getting a good look at Roy in their first at-bats, the Falcons tuned in the rest of the way.

"After the first time we saw the guy, we all came back to the dugout and were pretty confident that we'd get the job done," said Dopirak, whose homer was his 11th.

Doetsch would later single and score, and Garris added a triple that scored Dopirak, giving him three runs scored.

"It was probably just a matter of time," White said.

"That might be the best high school team I've ever seen."

Ryan Harvey pitched a complete game for the win. The junior struck out six and allowed five hits to improve his record to 10-0.

-- JOHN C. COTEY

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