South Lake edges Crystal River

By BARRY FARLEY
Published April 13, 2005

GROVELAND - Down to their last two outs in the seventh inning, South Lake turned an error, walk and single into a come-from-behind 6-5 win over Crystal River on Tuesday night.

Eagles shortstop Jonathan Wescott's single between third base and short proved to be the winner, plating two runs and stealing victory from the Pirates.

"We got some guys on and we moved them over; it was textbook baseball," South Lake coach Randall Cleckler said.

For a while, it appeared the Pirates' version of small ball would be enough to win as they scored three runs and took a 5-3 lead.

Trailing 3-2 in the sixth inning, the Pirates loaded the bases on a bunt and two infield singles.

Then junior centerfielder Kyle Daquanna's long fly sent R.J. Cummins home to tie it at 3. The Pirates took the lead when J.D. Talley scored on Seth Metz's sacrifice, then moved to 5-3 after an error by South Lake's Wescott.

The Eagles returned fire in their half of the inning with Shan Fairbanks' blast over the centerfield fence, pulling South Lake within one.

"It was a tough loss. It's high school baseball - the keys are you throw the ball over the plate and you make plays in the field," coach Rod Cummins said. "When you're in a tight game, everything is magnified."

Coy Goody was the winning pitcher, while Todd Bayer moved to 3-3 despite throwing a complete-game seven-hitter and adding a double and single at the plate.

Crystal River fell to 9-6 and 4-4 in Class 4A-9; South Lake moved to 6-14 and 2-5.

[Last modified April 13, 2005, 01:30:19]