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The Plant City Courier & Tribune

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Bullets White Gets To Tournament Semifinals

By DAREK SHARP, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 19, 2007

PLANT CITY - The Bullets White 11 and under baseball team finished strong after starting the season in the lower division and working its way up.

The Amateur Athletic Union squad, made up mostly of Plant City Little League players, finished third out of 36 teams at the 2007 Fall Classic in November.

"Hard work pays off. And these special ballplayers showed that with talent and hard work you can reach your goals," coach Tommy Matthews said.

The Bullets started the season in September playing in the Matrix division, then moved up into the Fire division, winning it to land in the ICE Division.

Playing in the ICE bracket at the Fall Classic, the Bullets were seeded eighth but ended up making the semifinals. For the year the Bullets went 18-5-1.

They started off the Auburndale tournament in November with a 17-2 win and won their second game 12-2. In an elimination contest against the Central Florida Diamondbacks, they won 8-6.

Nuno Ontiveros made a dramatic game-saving catch with the bases loaded to end it.

Then the Bullets lost 8-2 in the semifinal to the Florida Fire, an Orlando team that won the tournament.

"Many teams commented that they enjoy playing the Bullets White because the games are so competitive, and the parents behave themselves so well," Matthews said.

Plant City players such as P.J. Almon, Trey Matthews, Spanky Hakkarainen, Quenton Williams, Cole Rogers, J.J. Niekro and Ontiveros have played together since they were 6 or 7 years old.

Roberto Garcia, the team leader in home runs, and Kody Glausier are also from Plant City, with Valrico residents Marcus Maley, Brandon Colbert and Josh Mejia rounding out the roster.

Tommy Matthews credited his assistant coaches, Mark Rogers and Sal Giardina, for helping develop the team.

Reporter Darek Sharp can be reached at dsharp@tampa trib.com.

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