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TAMPA - Miami Florida Christian scored two runs in the seventh to defeat Ocala Trinity Catholic 2-1 and advance to the Class 2A final.
Leading off the seventh, Trinity Catholic's Kyle Cordell misjudged Kyle Radziewski's liner to centerfield, resulting in a double. Zack Schultz (5-3) got a groundout and strikeout before Chris Borgognoni laced a double to left-centerfield to score Radziewski.
After an intentional walk to Danny Lima, cleanup hitter J.C. Perez singled to leftfield, bringing home Borgognoni with the winning run.
Eric Horstmann then retired the Celtics (22-7) in order to end it.
"It was like everything we had been hoping for was right in front of us," Celtics catcher Thomas Futch said. "Then it just slipped right out of our hands."
Horstmann (8-2) went the distance for Florida Christian (21-10), allowing five hits and striking out four.
NORTH FLA. CHR. 8, FORT MEADE 4: The Eagles (27-3) scored four in the first and eliminated the Miners.
Tallahassee North Florida Christian shortstop Sean Stuyverson was hit by a pitch to lead off the game, and Blair Dodson and Wes Roberts walked. A single by Bill Gilbert drove home two runs, and two errors led to two more.
"I thought we played well tonight. But that big first inning killed us," Fort Meade coach Jeff Toffanelli said. "We just made too many mistakes."
Fort Meade (16-11) scored three in the second, two on Rene Ramirez's single.
"That first inning, when we got the 4-0 lead, really settled our players down," North Florida Christian coach Mike Posey said. "When they came back at us, we were able to hold them off to win."
Class ATAMPA - Donald Jordat tossed a three-hit complete game and West Palm Beach Summit Christian scored three in the fifth to defeat Jacksonville Eagle's View 3-1.
Jordat (9-3) struck out seven and walked five for Summit Christian (20-9). Justin Howard's two-out infield single in the fifth ended his no-hit bid.
"I really thought these two teams mirrored each other," Summit Christian coach Raul Hernandez said. "But (Jordat) was the X factor."
Alex Bastidas and Jordan Drouin reached on a walk and error, respectively, to open the fifth for the Saints. John Marks then drove a ball to rightfield that Sean Yost misplayed into a triple, scoring both runners. Lyall Smith followed with a suicide squeeze for a 3-0 lead.
Eagle's View (13-16) got the tying run to the plate in the seventh, but Jeremiah Lokken fouled out to third to end it.
TRINITY CHR. 6, ALL SAINTS' 4: A rally by Winter Haven All Saints' fell short when rightfielder Lou Savastano threw out Jason Marazzito at third to end the game.
Trinity Christian led 6-1 entering the bottom of the seventh behind pitcher Michael Lovern. After the first batter walked, he was relieved by Trevor Funk. After a fielder's choice, a double by Ronnie Richardson and two singles, sandwiched around a strikeout, brought in two runs.
Shortstop Josh Marazzito then singled to right, driving in one more run. But his brother, Jason, hesitated rounding second and was thrown out at third.
"We drill into our players never, ever, make the first or the third out of an inning at third base," All Saints' coach John Carpenter said. "We broke that rule today, and it cost us dearly."
The Warriors scored one in the first three innings. In the fifth, they made it 5-0 on three base hits and three walks.
- Times correspondent Jim Reese contributed to this report.