NEW PORT RICHEY - West Pasco's Senior baseball team earned its second postseason title by winning twice over the weekend.
The District 12 and Section 7 champion advances to the state tournament, one of eight teams vying for a berth in the Southeast Regional. West Pasco plays in the state series Saturday at Windermere.
In Saturday's section opener at Dunedin's Engelbert Complex, West Pasco rallied from 4-2 for a 12-4 win over Pinellas Park National. On Sunday, West Pasco beat Citrus Park 16-4.
"That first one was close," West Pasco manager Bob Fransen said.
West Pasco scored five in the sixth inning for a 7-4 lead. A defensive play set the tone for that scoring outburst: In the bottom of the fifth, rightfielder Jeremy Coolidge caught a fly ball with a runner on third base and threw home to catcher Matt Beck for a double play.
"It was like the whole momentum of the game turned on that play," Fransen said.
In West Pasco's five-run sixth, Ben Koenigsfeld's single scored Matt Racinowski, and Jeff Roxby hit a two-run single that scored Koenigsfeld and Tony Gironda.
Gironda had a team-high three hits with two runs and an RBI. Roxby had two hits and three RBIs, and Cellen Neptune had two hits, including a home run.
West Pasco's slugfest continued in the second game, as the team scored four each in the second, third and sixth innings.
Neptune's grand slam in the second, his third in the playoffs, highlighted the rout. Neptune finished that game with two hits and five RBIs.
SUDDEN END: The Land O'Lakes Junior softball team bowed out of the playoffs in the Section 4 tournament at East Bay. Three-time state champion Lake Wales swept Land O'Lakes 11-2 and 7-2.
"Lake Wales was a very good team, but I couldn't tell the girls that because if they knew how good that team was going to be they would have been scared," Land O'Lakes manager Steve Goldsborough said.
It was the first time a Land O'Lakes Junior softball team reached a sectional final since the 2000 squad lost to Citrus Park.
It also leaves Land O'Lakes with two sectional titles in the league's 32-year history. The Junior baseball team won district, sectional and state championships last season, and the Senior Softball team won district and section crowns in 1976.
"Taking runner-up in the sectionals was not bad," Goldsborough said. "We would have liked to have won the championship, but it just wasn't our day."
In the first loss to Lake Wales, Land O'Lakes was done in by 14 errors for its worse defensive game of the playoffs. The struggles also carried over to the offense, as Lake Wales pitcher Shanteria Parker struck out 11.
"I didn't think we would not be able to hit the ball," Goldsborough said.
Land O'Lakes' two runs came on Jackie Tetlow's sacrifice fly that scored Amber Farnham and Sara Ippolito's run-scoring single that plated Tristin Trottier.
Land O'Lakes took a 2-1 lead in the second game, scoring both runs in the third. Tetlow hit a leadoff double and Trottier singled to score pinch-runner Autumn Getz. Trottier scored on a fielder's choice by Brittney Scott.
"Lake Wales is going to be very hard to beat (in the state tournament), because they play defense very well," Goldsborough said.
Land O'Lakes advanced to the sectional after beating Bloomingdale for the District 13 title. That avenged a loss to Bloomingdale in the President's Cup final.
