West Pasco, LOL open state action

The West Pasco Major baseball team and the Land O' Lakes 11-year-old squad continue their postseasons in state tournaments beginning tonight.

West Pasco will play at Winter Park, near Orlando; Land O' Lakes plays in Callahan, northwest of Jacksonville. Both Pasco teams advanced by winning section tournaments last weekend.

For West Pasco, it has been a record-breaking run.

Representing District 12, West Pasco became the first group of boys that advanced to the state tournament three consecutive years, beginning as 9-year-olds.

"This team really is full of starters; I have 12 starters," Coach Dave Grabowski said. "Everyone knows their role. I can substitute a player for a player for another player and none of them get their heads down. They're all cheering.

"It's really been a pleasure watching these boys from the dugout."

Grabowski said this year's team isn't excelling at anything but is consistent.

"The last couple of years, there was always something that the team dominated in," Grabowski said. "But this year I can't put a finger on it. The pitching has been great. The hitting has been good and so has our defense. In the last three games we have only three errors, and that's pretty good.

"Our pitchers are averaging 12 strikeouts a game, so about two-thirds of our outs are on strikeouts. That keeps the number of errors down."

The top hitters for West Pasco have been Harrison Kesler, Tyler Hawks, Mike Dodson and Tom Moschner. Its top pitchers are Chris Chiger, Blaize Grabowski, Joe Vaccarino and R.J. Johnston.

Land O' Lakes coach Tim Henderson is happy his team is having another chance. Last season, as 10-year-olds, the team advanced to the state tournament. It was largely forgettable.

"We lost all three games; we never got out of pool play," Henderson said. "We were like deer in the headlights.

"This year, the boys are excited. It's a whole different attitude."

Land O' Lakes was on the brink of losing in district and section play before rattling off a series of victories to capture each tournament.

Land O' Lakes is led by a strong offense, scoring 39 runs in two games Saturday. A lot of the power comes from Alex Reynolds, Frankie Vinas and Blake Field.

Zachary Ware and Vinas threw complete games in section play.