CLASS 3A: Panthers beat Belen 9-5 after coach promises to buy championship rings if they win.
By MIKE READLING
Published May 23, 2003
TAMPA - Let the shiny rings roll in.
Eustis head coach Chet Lemon, a former Detroit Tiger and Chicago White Sox player, told his players that if they won the Class 3A state title he would buy them championship rings to rival his World Series and All-Star jewelry.
Rarely has a 9-5 win hit a wallet as hard as the Panthers' over Miami Belen Jesuit. The title is the second in four years for Eustis, which also won in 2000.
The Panthers broke the game open in the sixth, scoring three on three singles and a double by Adam Bornstein. Hitting was the key to the tournament for Eustis (22-10) as the Panthers racked up 12 hits in the semifinal and 14 Thursday afternoon.
Justin Smith pitched five innings of relief, striking out five after coming in for starter Brandon Carey in the bottom of the third with Eustis up 4-3. Belen (24-12) welcomed him with three singles and a run, but Smith calmed down to hold the Wolverines to two runs on five hits to earn the win.
Eustis also showed plenty of aggressiveness on the basepaths, stealing four bases, including a triple steal in the fifth in which John Matulia stole home with two outs to give Eustis a 5-4 lead. Also running on the play were Smith and C.J. Clemans.
Matulia and Marcus Lemon led the Panthers, each going 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Matulia had an RBI and Lemon added a double.
Belen never had won a postseason game before this season. Its last playoff appearance was in 1983.
TAMPA - The Class 4A championship game between Fernandina Beach and St. Thomas Aquinas was suspended by rain and will be made up 10 a.m. today. The Class 6A semifinal between Hialeah and Miami Columbus, scheduled to be played at that time, will be moved to an auxiliary field on the Legends Field complex and will start at 10 a.m.
Fernandina Beach scored three in the top of the second and led 3-0 when heavy rains halted play at 8:01 p.m. FHSAA officials waited one hour, 25 minutes before announcing the postponement.
Fernandina Beach, which never has been in the final game and never had won more than one playoff game, got a leadoff double from Ross Gordon in the second. Lee Steger followed with a walk and Blake Mills reached on an error before Hunter Burbank and Doug Gies drove in all three with singles.
St. Thomas Aquinas is looking for its first title since 1995.
