Eagles hold off pesky Bears in extra innings

Looking for its third win of the year, Central came back to tie Springstead at 2 before the Eagles won 5-3 in extra innings Friday.

By DEREK LARIVIERE
Published April 14, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - Looking for its third win of the year, Central came back to tie Springstead at 2 before the Eagles won 5-3 in extra innings Friday.

On the back of starting pitcher Mitch Jacobs, Springstead (7-14) looked like it would cruise over conference rival Central. Once Jacobs left the game, the Bears (2-16) had other ideas.

As the season winds down, the matchup between the county rivals was for little more than pride, but the Eagles looked motivated when Jacobs, returning from a shoulder injury, pitched five innings of one-hit ball.

With a 60-pitch limit instilled by coach Frank Vitale before the game, Jacobs was lifted in favor of freshman reliever Seton McNulty. McNulty surrendered two runs in the next two innings to send it to extras.

"I had a lot of confidence that Seton could finish it," Vitale said. "He's pitched well in tough spots since being called up from (junior varsity) this year."

On the other side, Central stuck with starter Cam Kick all the way into the eighth. Kick looked dominant after surrendering a two-run homer to Springstead shortstop Tom Dwyer in the first inning. Central coach Dan O'Rourke decided to try to let Kick finish the outing in the eighth.

Then Springstead got to him. Dwyer singled and scored, starting a three-run frame for the Eagles. The Bears answered with another run in the bottom half, but still came up short.

Dwyer was the hitting star of the night, going 3-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored. Kick went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in a losing effort.

[Last modified April 13, 2007, 23:02:30]