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Smith leads Hillsborough

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By ADAM ADKINS

aadkins@tampatrib.com

Published: June 8, 2009

ST. PETERSBURG - Mike Smith's final at-bat as a high school baseball player turned out to be a memorable one.

Brandon's slugger hit a grand slam to help the Hillsborough County senior all-stars roll to a 9-0 victory against Pinellas County on Sunday in the third annual Tampa Bay High School All-Star Classic at Tropicana Field.

Smith sent the first pitch he saw from East Lake's Cody Alessi in the fourth inning over the right-field wall to give Hillsborough a 6-0 lead.

"I just saw a fastball and unleashed," said Smith, who was named Hillsborough's MVP. "It hasn't really kicked in yet, but it was nice to hit a home run to end my high school career."

Seven Hillsborough pitchers combined on a five-hit shutout. Armwood's Robert Benincasa tossed the first two innings and Plant's Jake Lowe the last two, and in between Bloomingdale's R.J. Brown, Brandon's Cory Schools, Durant's Austin Buck, Sickles' Gregg Cooke and Tampa Catholic's Ryan Klosicki each pitched one inning.

Plant's Mychal Givens drew a bases-loaded walk in the second for the first run, and Jefferson's Chad Taylor had an RBI single in front of Smith in the fourth. Spoto's Arley Benton had an RBI double in the sixth, and King's Taylor Leggatt and Lennard's Blake Kennedy each had RBI singles in the seventh.

Seminole's Michael Martello had two hits and was named Pinellas' MVP.

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