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© St. Petersburg Times, published July 4, 2002
Land O'Lakes pulled off a seventh-inning comeback Wednesday to beat Lutz and stay alive in the District 13 Junior softball tournament.
Land O'Lakes trailed 5-3 heading into the top of the seventh. Land O'Lakes got its first two runners on and then something strange happened.
With runners on second and third, Lutz issued a walk that appeared to load the bases. But the Land O'Lakes runner on third broke for home and slid in under the tag to tie the score at five.
"She thought the bases were loaded," Land O'Lakes manager Jerry Scott said. "And I was going to yell to her and tell her to stop, but that would have given it away."
Land O'Lakes scored three more runs for a 7-5 lead. In two previous games, Land O'Lakes had scored five runs.
"We must have left our bats at Land O'Lakes," Scott said. "We've been carried by our pitching and our defense. But when we hit, we can play with anyone."
After losing its first game to New Tampa 5-3, Land O'Lakes regrouped and ousted New Tampa from the tournament with a 2-0 victory Tuesday. With its win versus Lutz,
Land O'Lakes will face host Antioch, which needs just one victory to eliminate Land O'Lakes and advance to the district championship game.
Land O'Lakes needs to beat Antioch twice to advance to the district title game against undefeated East Point, the South bracket winner.
In Major softball at Antioch, Land O'Lakes overpowered New Tampa 26-4 in four innings to win the North bracket. In its last two games, Land O'Lakes has scored 43 runs.
"The girls have just laid the bat on the ball," Land O'Lakes manager Penny Powell said.
CeCe Douglas had two hits and scored four runs and Autumn Getz drew four walks, added a hit and scored three runs.
Land O'Lakes (3-0) advances to Saturday's championship game at Pinecrest, where it will face undefeated North Brandon in a best-of-three series.
Host Antioch stayed perfect in the Senior baseball tournament by knocking off Land O'Lakes 10-6. Land O'Lakes drops into the losers bracket where it will face either North Seminole or East Point.
Should Land O'Lakes win, it will get another shot at Antioch but would have to win twice to claim the North bracket.
In Junior baseball at Pinecrest, Bloomingdale National's offense slowed down but still provided enough runs to get past South Brandon 13-5.
Bloomingdale National has scored in bunches, getting past Southeast 17-1 in the first round, then taking out Pinecrest 16-0.