Senior and Junior baseball miss a chance at the state tournament
By GREG AUMAN
Published July 23, 2003
The last two Dade City district championship Little League teams' seasons ended at the sectional tournament in Gibsonton this weekend, and both teams went down swinging.
The Seniors baseball team of 15- and 16-year-olds lost its sectional opener 3-2 to Windermere on Saturday and rallied to shut out Bloomingdale East Point 6-0 on Sunday, but it wasn't enough to keep its playoff run going.
The Juniors baseball team of 13- and 14-year-olds went out with controversy, with its game Friday night delayed an hour after an umpire's ruling was protested all the way to Little League headquarters in Williamsport, Pa.
The Juniors had been within one out of a 4-2 victory in its game against Ocoee, but a throwing error by shortstop Matt Wells allowed Ocoee to tie it. The controversy came in the eighth, when Dade City's Julian Juarez was on first base and manager Louis Giella called for a fake bunt and steal.
Batter Stephen Roe made contact with the Ocoee catcher as he brought his bat back from the bunt attempt, and the umpire called the runner out on batter's interference. While the interference, as a judgment call, cannot be contested, Giella questioned why the runner was called out and not the batter.
The protest went through local and sectional levels and finally to Williamsport, where Little League officials agreed with Giella, allowing the runner to stay on base and calling the batter out. An hour had passed, and Dade City couldn't bring the runner home, losing when Ocoee scored in the bottom of the inning.
"The kids were just heartbroken, crying, just stunned," said Giella, who said the team didn't leave the ballpark until midnight, with its next game at 10 a.m. the next day. "Our kids were so deflated because of the delay. They're so young, they kind of gave up."
Giella applauded starting pitcher Jeff Parker, who held Ocoee in check until the final rally. The next morning the Juniors lost 7-4 to East Bay, ending their postseason.
"It was demoralizing to lose the way we did, but we had the bases loaded three times and left them out there each time," Giella said. "It should have never come down to that last play."
The Seniors waited Monday, hoping East Point would beat Windermere to keep the sectional going, but Windermere won and clinched a spot in the state tournament to end Dade City's run.
"You always wish you could have gone to state, but we had a good time," manager Dale Maggard said. "We ended up as sectional runner-up, and the kids all had a lot of fun."
Dade City nearly beat Windermere, getting a home run from Casey Karppe to tie it in the third inning. Down 3-1 in the seventh the Seniors got a double by No. 9 hitter T.J. Norris, who scored on a two-out double by Robbie Shields. With the tying run in scoring position, Karppe struck out to end it.
Jimmy Hancock threw a shutout Sunday, striking out five, and the team's bats came alive.
"We just pounded the ball Sunday," Maggard said. "We really should have scored more than six runs. Everyone on the team got involved at the plate."
