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Baseball: Alonso outlasts Gaither in slugfest

By JEFF BERLINICKE

Tribune correspondent

Published: May 9, 2009

TAMPA - All season Alonso has lived by its pitching staff. Friday, the Ravens almost died from it.

The Ravens beat archrival Gaither 10-8 in a Class 6A-Region 2 semifinal. It was one of the stranger games in local prep baseball all year. There were five lead changes and two ties. Neither team went through a scoreless inning until Jordon Huchro shut down host Gaither in the bottom of the fifth, holding a 10-8 lead.

Both starting pitchers were gone early, but Alonso took a 7-5 lead in the third when the Cowboys committed four errors, walked three and added a wild pitch. Alonso scored four runs in the inning with no hits.

Alonso coach Landy Faedo said he didn't remember a game like it at such a late point in the season.

"We kept coming back, but we aren't used to winning like that," Faedo said. "We really had to gut it out because this kind of game never happens to us."

Thomas Dorminy, who is set to start the first game of a best-of-three regional series Friday, was called in to shut the door in the seventh and even that wasn't easy after he put runners on first and second with one out and the heart of the Gaither order at the plate, but he got out of the jam.

"We figured we'd get some hitting, but not like this," Dorminy said. "That's just the second time all year I had to relieve. I'll try to make it easier next time."

Alonso scored two in the first, capped by an RBI double by Casey Smit. Two batters later, Dorminy hit a long fly that scored Tyler Ding.

In the bottom of the first, Drew Doty set the school record with his 10th homer, a three-run blast to give Gaither the lead. The Cowboys tacked on another run to make it 4-2, but Gaither committed two errors in the second that led to two runs. In the Gaither second, Mike Danner set a Gaither record with his 38th hit of the season, then scored on a single by Doty.

After Alonso made it 7-5 in the third, Brady North homered to right-center to cut it to 7-6. Dorminy came back with a homer of his own only to see the score tied at 8 when Gaither countered with two more runs.

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