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Alonso moves on to 6A final

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By ADAM ADKINS

aadkins@tampatrib.com

Published: May 23, 2009

PORT ST. LUCIE - Alonso High played mistake-free baseball Friday afternoon in its Class 6A state semifinal matchup. The Ravens' opponent, Altamonte Springs Lake Brantley, made just one - but it proved costly.

Alonso scored the game's only run on a two-out throwing error in the second inning, and junior left-hander Thomas Dorminy made it stand with a complete-game three-hitter as the Ravens earned a 1-0 win against the defending state champion Patriots at Tradition Field.

The win puts Alonso into the state championship game for the first time in program history.

The Ravens (29-3) will face Miami Columbus for the 6A title tonight at 7.

"This is awesome," Ravens senior catcher Adam Pendleton said.

It was Pendleton who set up Alonso's only run. With two outs in the second, he drilled a Josh Tanski offering into the right-center gap, giving him a chance to do something that doesn't happen for him very often - leg out a triple.

It was one of two hits for the Ravens against the Patriots' starter, who walked one while striking out five in a complete game.

"When I hit second I kind of stumbled a little bit, but I just kept saying to myself, 'Keep going, keep going,'" Pendleton said. "That put us in a great spot."

Joe Lorenzo followed with a grounder in the hole between first and second. The ball was fielded cleanly by Lake Brantley's second baseman, but the throw to first base got away from Tanski, who was covering on the play, and that allowed pinch-runner Ed Williams to score easily.

The Patriots (29-4) had the tying run in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but never came through with the clutch hit.

"We've done it all year long. We've performed all year long," Lake Brantley coach Mike Smith said. "That young man just did a terrific job on the hill out there. He kept us off balance."

Dorminy, who threw a no-hitter in his last outing against Melbourne, finished off another tremendous performance with a 1-2-3 seventh, ending the game with his 10th strikeout.

"It was a great pitching performance by both guys," Alonso coach Landy Faedo said. "We were fortunate we took advantage of a mistake and scored a run early in the game, and Thomas did a great job to hold it down.

" I'm just real happy for them. They all stepped up today."

Reporter Adam Adkins can be reached at (813) 259-7616.

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