TAMPA - Armwood rallied from three runs down in the bottom of the seventh to score four times and overtake Gaither, 6-5, to win the Yellow Division and make the quarterfinals of the Saladino Tournament.
Hawks centerfielder R.J. Anderson rounded third in that final inning and never broke stride, sliding in head first to give Armwood the win.
In a close contest, the Cowboys went up 5-2 in the top of the inning. But starting pitcher Pat House of Gaither was tiring and was taken out with a 3-0 count on the first batter. Reliever Brock Wooten completed the walk to Eric Grecco then hit pinch-hitter Eric Anderson. Wooten got the Kevin Clarke to hit into a fielder's choice but with an overthrow to first, a run scored, making it 5-3.
Shortstop Mike Powell singled on a slow roller and R.J. Anderson then beat out an infield single, driving in a run to make it 5-4. DH Ruben Cruz's grounder to first took a bad hop and scored the runner from second, tying the score. On the throw home the ball got through to the backstop. Anderson never stopped running, scoring all the way from first.
"This was the type of game where it was a shame somebody had to lose," Armwood coach Joey Fernandez said. "This was a great high school baseball game. Those Gaither kids played every bit as hard as we did."
"I knew when I rounded third and saw nobody covering home that I could make it," Anderson said. "It was a chance I had to take and I'm lucky it paid off."
