An explosive lineup has guided Dunedin's Legion B team to familiar territory: the state tournament.
After going 4-0 at the area tournament in Bradenton, Dunedin begins play at 3:30 today in Deland as it tries to improve on last year's third-place finish at state.
For the first time, Legion B also will hold a national championship, to be held in Troy, Ala. The winner at state advances.
Dunedin hit .444 at the area tournament, hosted by Lakewood Ranch, and beat Clearwater Central Catholic 9-1 in the final.
Alan Mason, Grant Nierengarten, Ryan McKenzie and Cody Lehasky hit .500, and McKenzie drove in seven.
Ryan Brill was the winning pitcher in the first game and the last, and Ricky Rogers and Tyler Schmidt had complete game wins.
COMMITMENTS: Dunedin's Ryan Beckham, St. Petersburg Catholic's Pete Guastella and Gibbs' Kevin McKesson have picked colleges to play baseball at.
Beckham, who started in rightfield until Ryan Harvey returned from knee surgery, has committed to Pasco-Hernando Community College. Beckham, who is the 10th Falcon senior to move on to college baseball, batted .330 last season with 17 runs and 24 RBIs.
Guastella, who hit .379 with 10 doubles last season for the Barons, has signed to play at Florida A&M. Guastella was honorable mention all-county the past two seasons.
McKesson, who signed a partial baseball scholarship with Savannah College of Art and Design, was the Gladiators top pitcher last season with 83 strikeouts in 75 innings. He also was a Times honorable mention all-county last year.
