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DAWN REISSPasco advances to the region semifinal by knocking off the top-ranked team in 3A.
DUNNELLON - Pasco pitcher Dominic Brown saved the Pirates and toppled unbeaten Dunnellon in a 3-2 upset victory in Class 3A Tuesday night at Mike Payne Field.
Brown (7-1), a sophomore, threw 111 pitches, struck out nine and hit the gamewinning double in the top of the eighth to drive in Sonny Glover.
"I knew if he gave me a good pitch I'd hit it," Brown said about pitcher Kyle Ginley, now 12-1. "I just knew I had it in me."
Dunnellon, thought to be the only undefeated team left in the state after a 27-0 run up to last night's game, is ranked first in the state Class 3A poll.
Brown, who went 2-for-4, got on in the top of the sixth when second baseman Ray Callejas missed a ground ball that helped drive in Robbie Shields for a Pasco 2-1 lead.
In Dunnellon's half of the inning, Matt Glancy led off with a single, Brown struck out Gus Glancy and Kayne McPhillips only to walk Callejas and Dennis Peacock, who could have scored the gamewinning run.
With Dunnellon's leading hitter, senior outfielder Marty Allen at the plate, Brown held his own with three quick strikes.
A scoreless Pasco seventh inning was followed by Gus Glancy's single to right on a 1-2 pitch to knock in Eric Cox and tie the game at 2 for extra innings.
In Pasco's eighth, Brown's 350-foot double put Pasco ahead.
In Dunnellon's half, a popup followed by a leaping catch by centerfielder Kyle Hobbs resulted in two outs. After a walk by Pirates reliever Glover, Robbie Shields came in and walked another. A flyout finally ended the game.
"We were just one hit short," Dunnellon coach George Welsh, in his third year as head coach, said. "We were just a little jumpy and Brown threw some nice pitches."
Pasco left 10 runners on base. Pasco improves to 21-5, Dunnellon finishes the season at 27-1.
The win is Pasco's first in the playoffs since 1997, when the Pirates reached the state final four.
Pasco had lost in the first round in each of the last three seasons.
The Pirates will travel to Orlando Bishop Moore (25-3), which won 10-0 in five innings on Tuesday.