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Destination:the panhandle
By STEVE LEE, Times Staff Writer LAND O'LAKES -- The Land O'Lakes Junior Baseball All-Stars depart today for their longest summer road trip. From Temple Terrace to Clermont to Coral Springs, Land O'Lakes has claimed District 13 and Section 4 championships, as well as the South bracket title of the state tournament. A three-game weekend sweep at Coral Springs earned Land O'Lakes a trip to Niceville (located in the panhandle between Pensacola and Panama City) for the final four of the state tourney. Land O'Lakes plays Port St. John today at 7:30 p.m. with the winner playing in Wednesday's title game against the Dunedin-Venice winner. "We're going to keep working at it," manager Robert Peterson said of his team's goal to reach the Little League Junior Baseball World Series on Aug. 12-17 in Taylor, Mich. But first there is the matter of claiming Land O'Lakes' first state tournament and winning the South Region tournament Aug. 3-9 in Cartersville, Ga. "I think these kids have confidence in themselves," Peterson said. Three decisive wins in the South bracket will do that. Starters Jeff Bloomer, Caz Piurowski and Jacob Neely pitched complete games, beating Eau Gallie 13-4 on Friday, Venice 6-1 on Saturday and Sunrise 17-7 on Sunday to advance to the final four. "The pitchers expect a lot out of themselves," Peterson said. "We have a solid lineup of pitchers." Ross Hughes sparked the offense in the Eau Gallie game with a grand slam and five RBIs. His bases-loaded blast over the left-centerfield fence in the sixth gave Land O'Lakes an 11-4 lead. "He's capable of hitting it deep," Peterson said of Hughes' first postseason home run. "I was just trying to relax and get a base hit," Hughes said. "I've hit a couple of grand slams before, but that one was pretty big." Ricky Howroyd, who also had four RBIs, and Piurowski, who had two, each homered in that game. Bloomer and Danny Sutton each drove in a run. That was ample run support for Bloomer, a left-hander who scattered seven hits, struck out five and walked one. Piurowski had four RBIs and a three-run homer in the win over Venice. He also earned the win by tossing a five-hitter with four strikeouts and two walks. Bloomer and Hughes had run-scoring hits in that game. Wes Fuglesang's bat did most of the damage against Sunrise. Fuglesang, who hit a three-run triple and scored on a throwing error, drove in six runs. Jonathan Brewster and Piurowski each homered and had three RBIs, Hughes and Chad Harris added two RBIs, and Eli Jones drove in a run. Neely allowed five Sunrise hits, striking out five and walking five. Piurowski leads the team with seven home runs and Howroyd is second with four, but Peterson noted that Land O'Lakes is getting clutch hits from more than two players. "Kids who were not hitting at the beginning (of the playoffs) are coming along," Peterson said. Win or lose in the state tournament, Peterson said it already has "been an incredible journey. It has been one of those experiences that may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
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From today's Pasco Times Editorial Letters |
