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Eagles Walk Off With Win

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By ADAM ADKINS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 17, 2009

BRANDON - A matter of inches ultimately led to Brandon ending a two-game skid Tuesday night and Bloomingdale missing out on a chance to extend a five-game winning streak in extra innings.

Standing at the plate with a full count, the bases loaded, two outs, and a tie game in the bottom of the seventh, Brandon's Vernon White watched a close ball four sail into the catcher's glove, one that allowed the Eagles to walk off Don Powell Field with a 3-2 win against the Bulls in a Class 5A-District 8 matchup.

Brandon coach Matt Stallbaumer couldn't have been more proud of White, who he said was in a similar situation late in Brandon's 9-8 loss Friday against Wharton but didn't deliver after chasing a pitch out of the strike zone.

"I was more impressed that he learned between his last at-bat at Wharton to this at-bat, in the same situation," Stallbaumer said. "He took some pitches. He got himself to a 3-2 count. And in the game of baseball, sometimes, you put it in the hands of the guy behind the plate."

Both teams got great performances from their respective starting pitchers. Bloomingdale left-hander R.J. Brown gave the Bulls six strong innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits while striking out five in a no-decision. Meanwhile, Brandon right-hander Cory Schools went the distance for the Eagles (8-2), walking one and allowing seven hits.

Bloomingdale (7-4) took a 2-0 lead in the fifth on Austin Wilson's RBI single and Richie Martin's sac fly, but Brandon got one in the fifth and tied it in the sixth after the leadoff batter reached on an error and scored on Chris Knott's RBI single.

"I was very happy with the way we came out. We came out focused and we came out with a purpose," Bulls coach Kris Wilken said. "We just didn't catch the ball. We made three errors and two of them led to runs."

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