Every good chance they had to score they did. Now they're in the semifinals.
By JOHN C. COTEY
Published March 24, 2004
DUNEDIN - Against one of the better pitchers they will see all season, Northside Christian figured it would get one or two scoring chances.
It got three.
And each time, the Mustangs delivered. Behind a brilliant performance from its battery, Northside Christian beat Tallahassee Lincoln 6-1 Tuesday night at the Englebert Complex to advance to the semifinals of the Dunedin Spring Classic.
Catcher David Golliner delivered two run-scoring triples, and pitcher Tim Devlin turned in the best pitching performance of his life in a surprisingly easy win over the Class 5A runnersup.
The Mustangs (8-2) will meet Wellington tonight at 5 in one semifinal. Wellington advanced by beating Dunedin 9-1.
In the other semifinal at 8, Clearwater Central Catholic plays Palm Beach Gardens, which scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to beat Crystal River 4-3.
There was not as much drama in the Mustangs win, thanks to Devlin. The junior lefty improved to 3-0 with a five-hitter, and was one out from his first shutout this year.
Mixing a good fastball with a sharp and effective curveball, Devlin struck out eight.
"That was definitely the game of my career right there," Devlin said.
"The deuce," Golliner said. "The deuce was working."
So was the triple. Golliner's first, a rocket into the right-center gap that scored P.K. Keller, made it 2-0 in the third. In the sixth, he hit another to the same spot, scoring Keller again.
Lincoln starter Mike Criswell struck out six of the first eight he retired, but then walked Devlin and Keller with two outs to set up Golliner's triple and open the door for Northside to score three in the third. Northside scored again in the fifth on Justin Murphy's hit, and twice in the sixth on Golliner's triple and Chris Wallace's single.
Keller, Golliner and Chris Wallace - Northside's 2-3-4 hitters - combined to go 5-for-9 with five runs and three RBIs.
NO-HITTER: In the consolation bracket, Palm Harbor's Chris Wheaton threw a no-hitter in a 1-0 win over River Ridge. Wheaton, a senior, struck out 12.
