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Florida advances to Southeast final

Stuart Tapley homers in the seventh to give the team from Apopka a 5-3 victory.

By BOB PUTNAM

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 10, 2001

GULFPORT -- Florida has some maulers who can tear down the fences.

The 11- and 12-year-old Little League players from Apopka demonstrated that again during Thursday's Southern Regional semifinal as four of their runs came via homers, the last a game-ending two-run home run by Stuart Tapley in the bottom of the seventh to clinch a dramatic 5-3 victory over North Carolina.

The win advances Florida to the Southeast final at 6 p.m. Saturday. The game will be televised by ESPN2.

"I know if we have another out coming to us, we're not out of a ballgame," Florida manager Bob Brewer said. "Anybody in this lineup has the ability to hit the ball out of the park. And when you have weapons like that, you usually don't get too worried."

Early in the game, it was the pitchers, not the hitters, who controlled the game. Florida's Justin Lafavers had a perfect game through four innings, and North Carolina's Justin Schumer was perfect through three.

Schumer's perfect game ended in the fourth as Florida manufactured a run. Brandon Brewer and Tyler Scanlon singled, and Andrew Cob was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Lafavers then walked to bring home Brewer.

Florida's lead did not last. North Carolina took advantage of two errors and scored three runs in the fifth inning.

Trailing by two, Florida rallied. Tapley hit a solo homer in the fifth to make it 3-2, and Lafavers hit a solo home run in the sixth to send the game into extra innings.

With two outs in the seventh, Tapley hit a two-run shot that cleared the centerfield fence.

"I wasn't thinking home run at any time," Tapley said. "I just wanted to get a base hit each time and hit something hard."

Florida has hit the ball hard throughout the tournament. The team is undefeated (5-0) and has twice tied the record for most home runs in a game with five.

Brewer, however, credited the team's resiliency and experience for being as important as its ability to hit the deep ball. Florida has had two pitchers go down with injury but has remained undefeated due in part to six players who played in the Southern Regional last season.

"We've been in tight ballgames and have found ways to win," Brewer said. "We're not just a team that can hit home runs."

GEORGIA 1, VIRGINIA 0: Tyler Thornburg threw a one-hit complete game to lead Georgia into the Southeast States final. Thornburg needed only 59 pitches to shut out Virginia and outduel Arman Moniri, who allowed four hits in also going the distance.

TEXAS 7, MISSISSIPPI 4: Matt Taylor and Kirby Kirchner each drove in a pair of runs to lead Texas into the Gulf States final, to be played at 8 p.m. Sunday. Taylor had two hits, and Kirchner hit a home run. Starting pitcher Matt Sandell allowed only two hits in five innings as Texas battled back from a 2-0 deficit.

Big League baseball

Dunedin defeated Williamsport, Pa., 8-4 in its final pool game Thursday. Shawn Williams' two-run double broke a 4-4 tie, and Josh Whittle went six inning to pick up the victory.

The U.S. final is at 8:45 p.m. today. But Dunedin had to wait until Thursday's late game between South Carolina and California to see if they advanced.

Former River Ridge and current PHCC player Billy Phillips and Gulf graduate Johnny Wirick play for Dunedin.

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