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CHARLES CARDWELLEric Turgeon sends a ball to the fence to knock St. Petersburg out of the playoffs.
DUNEDIN - With the bases loaded and the score tied at 3 in the bottom of the sixth, a base hit would have sufficed for Dunedin. An extra-base hit would have been more than enough.
Eric Turgeon hit a ball off the outfield wall for a base-clearing triple to give Dunedin (19-9) a 6-3 win in a region quarterfinal against St. Petersburg.
Ricky Rogers (7-2) pitched a complete game, giving up six hits along the way.
St. Petersburg (19-10) jumped on top early with a run in the first. Ryan Luker doubled to start the game, and back-to-back sacrifices by Dale and Nolan Brannon scored Luker.
Dunedin matched the run in the bottom of the inning off Turgeon's single, scoring Kevin Garcia.
Garcia doubled in the third to help Dunedin grab the lead again. Ryan McKenzie's fly to right pushed Garcia over to third. Garcia scored his second run when Alan Mason hit another fly to right.
St. Petersburg answered in the fourth, when Courtland Chambers singled and stole second. A balk put Chambers at third. Adam Recvlohe grounded to short, scoring Chambers and tying the game.
Dunedin responded with a run that started with a two-out walk by Jeff Cheek. Kyle Mills singled deep to the outfield, allowing Cheek to score.
Camillo Fortunato singled to start the fifth for the Devils and stole second before being driven in by Luker's single. For the first time in the game, Dunedin failed to match St. Petersburg's run.
Two singles by Mills and Garcia off St. Petersburg's Dale Brannon (6-5) put runners on the corners. An intentional walk to McKenzie allowed the bases to be loaded for Turgeon, who finished with four RBIs.
"The kids played hard," Dunedin coach Tom Hilbert said. "If a guy didn't get something done, the next guy was there to pick it up."