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Baseball: Big Inning Dooms Ridgewood

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By RICK HARMON

Tribune correspondent

Published: February 21, 2009

TARPON SPRINGS Ridgewood knew it would only be as good as it young pitching Saturday in the finals of the Lee Byers Invitational tournament at East Lake.

The Rams (2-1) were starting freshman Bob Peck and the remainder of arms available were either freshmen or sophomores.

Flirting with disaster the entire day, the big inning finally came in the bottom of the fourth when the host Eagles put a 12-spot on the board en route to a 14-4 five inning mercy rule win.

"The young kids have to understand that you have to throw strikes and don't walk them and don't hit them," Ridgewood coach Larry Beets said. "Hopefully we can go on from this. The young kids have to grow up quick."

The Rams staked young Peck to a 3-0 lead on a double by Jay Mattos, followed by a home run by Mike Vavasis. After a walk to Tarvis Gall, George Duncan doubled to score Gall.

But Peck struggled from the start, walking the bases loaded in the first on 12 pitches but struck out the side to leave the bases loaded. The Eagles (3-0) loaded the bases in the second on a double by Brett Donnelly and consecutive hit-by-pitch by Billy Nugent and Michael Slater. Peck's day was done, replaced by sophomore Mike Rinaldi. Rinaldi hit Ryan Hughes with his first pitch, forcing in Donnelly. The Rams got out of further harm when Mattos caught Wes Sargent's line drive and doubled off Slater at second and Hughes was thrown out trying to steal second.

"We didn't hit early but we did capitalize on some walks and errors," said East Lake coach Mike White.

East Lake sent 16 hitters to the plate in the bottom of the fourth and scored 11 runs before the rams could record an out. By the numbers, 12 runs, seven hits, one error, two doubles, four walks, two hit batters, two pitchers and 71 pitches, only 26 for strikes.

I looked like Ridgewood would get an at-bat in the sixth as freshman sophomore Kevin Thomas retired the first two Eagles in the bottom of the fifth. But Nugent reached base on a throwing error and Slater followed with a double to score Nugent and end the game.

Ridgewood 300 10 -- 4 7 2
East Lake 010 (12)1 -- 14 11 1

WP -- Frantz (1-0). LP -- Rinaldi (0-1). 2B -- Mattos, Duncan (R); Donnelly, Nugent, Kellerman, Slater (E). HR -- Vavasis (R). R -- R 2-1, E 3-0.

Correspondent Rick Harmon can be reached at tampabaystringer@gmail.com

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