Tarpon Springs defeats St. Petersburg 5-2 as starter Justin Wilson bounces back from a shaky start.
By JEFF BERLINICKE
Published March 24, 2004
SEMINOLE - For the second straight day, Tarpon Springs gave its opponent a rude wakeup call.
The Spongers (9-2) continued to advance through the Steve Georgiadis Invitational Tournament at Seminole High with a 5-2 win Tuesday over St. Petersburg. Both wins came with a 10 a.m. starting time.
Tarpon Springs broke open a tie at 2 in the sixth. Karl Midgette led off with a double and scored on Chris Santucci's single to left. He moved to third on an opposite-field single by Wes Livernois. Mike Kolianos and Tim Gayson also had run-scoring RBI singles and Justin Wilson wrapped it up in the seventh.
Wilson, the pitcher for Tarpon Springs, allowed three hits and struck out four after a shaky start. He allowed just two hits after the first inning and survived just one small scare after that.
"That was the best game I've pitched all year," Wilson said. "I liked it being early. I was ready and I couldn't wait to get it going."
The senior spotted his fastball all morning, mixing speeds and keeping the Green Devils off balance. But he fell behind 2-0 in the top of the first. With one out, St. Petersburg's Nolan Brannon reached on an error and, after a strikeout, Courtland Chambers lifted an easy popup to second that was dropped. Brannon scored, and Chambers came in on the next pitch on Camilo Fortunato's single to right.
Tarpon Springs scored once in the bottom of the first. Kyle Hammond led off with a single, stole second and moved to third on an error. He scored on a groundout to make it 2-1. Tarpon Springs loaded the bases in the second without a hit, but a flyout killed the rally.
Wilson then kept St. Petersburg at bay until the Spongers tied it in the fourth. Midgette reached on another error and moved to third on a single. One out later, Kolianos laid down a squeeze bunt down the third base line and Midgette scored to tie it at 2.
