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By JAMAL THALJI
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 12, 2000
DADE CITY -- Manager Danny Filley watched his Dade City senior baseball all-stars commit error after error as his team's lead slipped away in a 4-2 loss to Pinecrest in the District 4 tournament on July 5, and he thought to himself:
Dade City can play better than this.
But that loss meant the seniors would need two consecutive wins against Pinecrest to capture the District 4 championship.
Which is exactly what Dade City did.
The senior all-stars blanked Pinecrest in the two rematches -- winning 9-0 on Sunday and 7-0 on Monday -- to go 6-1 on the season and capture its second consecutive District 4 senior baseball crown.
Filley isn't surprised that his team came through twice in the clutch.
"We had to," the manager said. "They won on errors that night. We were winning the game, but we made mistakes."
The seniors advance to the sectional tournament, which begins July 22 at East Point in Seffner. Filley said he doesn't know who his team's opponent will be, but when his team is playing to its potential, it really doesn't matter.
"Yeah, definitely," Filley said. "We have everything. Everything. We've got hitting, we've got pitching. We're so deep in pitching it's unbelieveable. We've got the bats, everybody's stepping up when we use substitutions, all the way down the lineup."
Pitching was key in the latest wins. Corey Filley pitched Sunday's win, and Matt Prowatt pitched a two-hitter in Monday's win.
On Monday, Dade City broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the third inning, thanks to RBI hits from Prowatt and Matt Smith. Two more runs came in the third inning, as Filley and Sonny Glover had RBI hits.
The seniors scored three in the fifth, two off squeeze plays thanks to some skillful bunts and the third batted in by Jhavard Bailey.
Filley, Glover and Prowatt all went 2-of-3 with an RBI. But the pitching is what has the manager most excited. Filley won't even try to pick out an ace on the staff. He could start Prowatt, Glover, Smith, Corey Filley or Chris Nyman on any given night.
EARLY EXIT FOR MAJORS: Manager Byron Buntyn's Zephyrhills major softball all-stars left the District 4 tourney with a 1-2 record after Monday night's 15-3 loss to Zephyrhills at Lake Wales.
"This is the best all-star team I've ever had and I was really disappointed we didn't go any further," said Buntyn, who has coached since 1995.
After Zephyrhills lost 15-12 on Thursday to Plant City, the team rebounded for a 6-5 win over Frostproof on Sunday.
Kim Hapeman pitched a complete game, and Zephyrhills won the game in extra innings when Yolanda Florez stole home in the seventh on a passed ball, knocking the ball out of the catcher's glove. -- To report news from Dade City and Zephyrhills Little League, contact Jamal Thalji at (352) 521-5757, ext. 25; by fax at (352) 521-0290; or by e-mail at thalji@sptimes.com.