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By MIKE READLING
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 9, 2001
TAMPA -- All season, Adam Rogers has been looking for the swing that turned so many heads last year.
The one that caused pitchers to intentionally walk him as many as four times a game last year. The one that has eluded him most of his senior year.
He found it Tuesday night.
Rogers drilled two home runs, including his first career grand slam, and drove in 10 runs as Seminole Presbyterian defeated Fort Myers Evangelical 16-13 for its first state tournament berth.
Seminole Presbyterian (24-7) plays Jacksonville Arlington Country Day, 10-1 winners over Quincy Munroe on Tuesday, in the state semifinals Monday. "It's taken me a while to find my stroke," Rogers said. "But this is nice. I knew it had to come eventually."
It could have come next week for all Evangelical cared.
Rogers staked the Lancers to a 4-0 lead in the first when he drilled a Jonathan Walters pitch over the leftfield fence for his first three RBI. Seminole scored two more in the second to take a 6-2 lead. But in third, Evangelical (11-14) sent 13 batters to the plate, scoring eight runs on six hits. Six of those runs came with two outs.
"We just couldn't get that last out when we needed it," Seminole Presbyterian coach J.J. Pizzio said. "That team played us as hard as any team's played us all year."
Rogers cut the 11-6 deficit to one in the fourth when he hit a 3-0 Luis Ramirez pitch far over the leftfield fence.
"The first one was questionable, but the second I hit that second one, I knew it was gone," Rogers said. "This is one for the records. That's for sure."
Even with Rogers' heroics, Seminole had to scrape together four runs in the sixth to ensure victory.
The Lancers came into the sixth trailing 13-12. Leadoff hitter Joe Vallejo reached on an error and scored from first on Tommy Salemy's single to center, which Tim Stoudt misplayed. Justin Craig walked to put runners on first and second before Chris Phethean loaded the bases by getting hit by a pitch. Bobby Cupp walked, forcing in Craig and giving the Lancers the lead. Rogers followed with a two-run single. "It all goes out to Adam. He had everything going tonight," Pizzio said. "Adam's the heart of this team, and when you've got a kid with that much heart, there's no telling what that kid can do. He picked us up and carried us."