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It Was Almost Plant City's Party

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By DAREK SHARP

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 30, 2008

PLANT CITY - This was pegged as Haines City's party all the way, but Plant City almost ruined it.

The District 4 Little League tournament for 11- and 12-year-olds was indeed won by the host Haines City but not before a group of underdogs from Plant City forced a final championship game.

"We knew it was going to come down to Haines City and ... somebody. We were fortunate enough to be the other team," Plant City All-Star coach Steve Gude said. "We sort of exceeded our expectations. The kids put in some hard work and it paid off."

Plant City, after losing a tough 19-9 decision in its first meeting with Haines City, won two dramatic games to force a final championship July 13 before falling 18-6.

Many believe that Haines City can challenge for the Florida state title, which puts a team one more tournament away from reaching the Little League World Series. And yet Plant City defeated the hosts one time, forcing the deciding game.

Before that, Plant City started with a pair of tremendous pitching performances. Austin Boatright tossed a one-hitter as Plant City defeated Lakeland City Orange 4-1, followed on July 8 by a combined no-hitter to beat North Lakeland 4-0.

Zach Shinn threw the first five innings in the latter game, with brothers Flabio and Roberto Garcia following in relief

"Austin threw an absolute gem. He had his off-speed pitches working very well, then we follow that up with a no-hitter," Gude said.

But then Haines City awaited. Plant City actually led 9-7 and got the first two Haines City batters out in the fourth inning, but a pair of walks were then followed by a three-run homer, and the hosts turned that momentum into a blowout.

Still, Plant City recovered, winning a wild one against Lake Wales on July 12. Dustin Lawson, normally a catcher, was called on to pitch and performed beautifully with five shutout innings. Plant City led 6-0 going into the final inning, but Lake Wales roared back to tie it.

Unshaken, Plant City loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth and won the game on a Boatright sacrifice fly to the outfield fence.

That put Plant City into the finals, but needing to beat Haines City twice to win the district championship.

As unlikely as even one victory seemed, it happened July 13, thanks in large part to the pitching of Shinn, who held down the Haines City bats in a 6-3 decision.

"He threw every pitch just about perfectly," Gude said.

Forcing the final game, Plant City could not contain Haines City's offense, and the hosts won the district title. Haines City was to play next in the Section 4 tournament.

Both Garcia brothers, Lawson and Shinn had multiple home runs throughout the tourney, but others contributed in different ways. Austin Lassiter was the base running specialist off the bench, Tyler Barnett and P.J. Almon were both very solid and Caleb Gude had a big two-double performance against Lakeland City. Sawyer Dawson joined Almon and Roberto Garcia as the only 11-year-olds on the team.

And Gude had special mention for Cameron Townsend, whom he called the "heart of the team" for his hustling play.

"Here's a kid that just about cried when he found out he made all-stars. He had a big hit in our last game, too, starting off a rally with a base hit," Gude said.

Speaking of big hits, Flabio Garcia had a shot in the final game that even the Haines City coaches had to marvel about. Garcia hit a mammoth homer that Gude called the longest home run he has ever seen a 12-year-old hit.

"There was a road, 300 feet away, that he cleared by 50 feet, and it landed in someone's backyard," Gude said. "The Haines City coaches said no one's ever hit it over that road."

Reporter Darek Sharp can be reached at dsharp@tampatrib.com.

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