Smith's no-hitter carries Gators

The Gators will face Ridgewood, a 5-2 winner over River Ridge.

By JOHN C. COTEY
Published April 27, 2007

WESLEY CHAPEL - Matt Smith was, at times, all over the place.

He walked two batters, hit two others and in three different innings had a runner in scoring position. At one point in the fifth, coach Cal Baisley had a reliever warming up.

By game's end, it was hard to believe what you had just seen.

A no-hitter.

But it was true. Land O'Lakes' Smith, working behind a good fastball and a knee-bending slurve, shut down Wesley Chapel Thursday and pitched the Gators to a 7-0 victory and a spot in tonight's final.

The Gators will face Ridgewood, a 5-2 winner over River Ridge.

The championship will be a rematch of last year's final, which the Rams won 1-0 despite losing twice to Land O'Lakes during the season. This year, the Gators (18-7) also beat the Rams (20-6) twice during the regular season.

Matt Fuglesang will start for Land O'Lakes against Jay Mattos, the starter in last year's final.

They'll be hard-pressed to match Smith's effort Thursday. The senior right-hander struck out 11 and survived near hits in each of the last three innings.

In the fifth, Keith Rooney nearly beat out a grounder to first. In the sixth, Shane Stone lined out to left. And in the seventh, Ben Beirg came closest to a hit with a slow roller up the middle that shortstop J.D. Cook had to quickly charge and throw.

"That last one, I was just, 'Please get it, please get it, please get it,' " Smith said. "It's (chicken wings) for my defense ... (Cook) gets a steak dinner."

Smith slightly wobbled in the fifth - he had runners on first and third with one out - but from that point on struck out seven of the final nine batters.

Wesley Chapel starter Kyle Wahl was strong, too, striking out nine and allowing three hits. Two were home runs by Brad Patton in the first and Anthony Santa in the third.

Wesley Chapel finishes 12-14.

River Ridge, which let the Rams score all five of their runs in the first inning and never recovered, finished 12-12.

[Last modified April 26, 2007, 23:46:10]