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Dunedin Advances To States

2-Game Sweep Of North Port High

Eric Horchy/SUNCOAST NEWS

Dunedin players crowd around to get a piece of their newest hardware - a regional finals championship trophy.

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By Eric Horchy | The Suncoast News

Published: May 10, 2008

It took a good five innings Friday evening, but the Dunedin Falcons flipped the power switch to 'ON' when it was needed most and muscled their way past North Port High to advance to their first state Final Four since 2002.

Down 5-1 in Game 1 of the best-of-3 regional final series, the Falcons' offense ignited in the bottom of the fifth inning and did not stop firing until their ticket to states was sealed.

Dunedin delivered five of their 10 total hits in the final two frames of Game 1 to come from behind and pull out a thrilling 6-5 victory from the clutches of defeat.

Momentum abruptly swung the Falcons' way in their fifth-half of the frame, when catcher Ryan Schneider laced a two-out, two-on single to right. Rather than playing the ball on a hop and conceding one run that would have made it a 5-2 game, North Port right fielder Jake Brandenberger made a diving, headfirst attempt for the out, but came up short. The ball snuck underneath his glove and caromed to the wall, allowing both Casey Turgeon and Clay Kollembaum to score.

With new life, Dunedin starting pitcher Max Kreuter quickly sat down the Bobcat 3-4-5 hitters in order in the top of the seventh and let the offense do the rest. After Turgeon rapped his third hit of the night for a RBI double, cutting the North Port lead to 5-4, power-hitting shortstop Jake Rogers was intentionally walked with one down, loading the bases for Jamison Sweat. Taking the count to 3-2, Sweat tapped a groundball to the right-side of the mound that relief pitcher Kyle Clough fielded. Instead of going home to try and force the potential game-tying run out, Clough threw low to second in an apparent attempt to turn a game-ending double play, subsequently resulting in all runners being safe.

With the game now knotted at 5-5 and the bases still loaded, Kollembaum stepped to the plate and finished the comeback win off by roping a line drive up the middle.

"The at bats in that seventh inning were just phenomenal," Dunedin head coach Tom Hilbert said after the doubleheader's conclusion. "They were just team at bats, not hitting them necessarily hard, but staying inside the ball and hitting them where they had to be."

North Port starter Henry Manna seemed to have Dunedin baffled throughout the majority of the afternoon by effectively changing speeds and tossing knee-buckling breaking balls. He struck out 10 Falcons' batters in his 6 1/3 innings of work, but did not quite have enough left in the tank at the end of his 120 total pitches.

"That kid came as advertised," Hilbert said of Manna. "He's the real deal. We had to battle him, and we did battle him."

Hilbert also acknowledged the grit displayed by his own starting pitcher's performance.

"Kreuter had to battle today without his best stuff," he said of his now 12-0 ace. "That's the sign of a good pitcher. They had the leadoff runner on six of seven innings. That plays right into their hands. They had us on our heels the whole game."

"The key, really, was him putting up single numbers instead of crooked numbers in those innings, or else that game could've been out of hand."

Following the half-hour break between games, Dunedin showed no signs of a post-comeback hangover and jumped all over North Port in Game 2.

Second-game starting pitcher Clay Kollenbaum helped his own cause immediately by bombing a first-inning, three-run homer to the opposite-field in right. The three runs eventually would prove to be all the Falcons needed for the win.

After another three-run outburst in the third that put Dunedin comfortably on top 6-0, Kollenbaum struck again, slamming a two-run dinger to cap a four-run fourth inning.

"I hit them both square," Kollenbaum said of his two home runs. "It just feels great helping your team that much, and putting three runs up in the first inning is huge."

The Falcons would score two more runs in the fifth to insure the 12-0 mercy-rule victory.

"These have been the biggest games all season; the biggest games of my life," Kollenbaum said. "I've wanted to make sure they're my best games, too."

On the hill in Game 2, the senior starter pushed through some control issues and only allowed one hit in his four innings of work. Danny Gardner came on to close out the fifth.

The victories now advance Dunedin to Sarasota for the state Final Four where they will meet Brandon High, who also swept on Friday by beating Winter Haven 9-8, 10-5. (Note: All four state semifinalists swept their way into Sarasota).

In his tenth year as Falcons' coach, this is Hilbert's second appearance to the state semifinals and he did not hide his excitement to be going back.

"It was a lot of fun in 2002," he said in reminiscence. "Even though we lost, it was one of the best baseball moments of my life. Now we get to go back and I can't wait."

Kollenbaum reiterated his coach's enthusiasm and mentioned how the team is beginning to gel at just the right time.

"Everything's starting to come together for me, and more importantly, for the team," he said. "It's huge. It feels amazing."

The state semifinals will get underway this Wednesday at Sarasota's Ed Smith Stadium.

FRIDAY'S TOP PERFORMERS:

DUNEDIN – Clay Kollenbaum – 4-for-5, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 4.0 INN, W, 3 K. Casey Turgeon – 3-for-5, 1 RBI, 2 2B, 4 R, 3 BB. Jamison Sweat – 2-for-8, 2 2B, 1 RBI. Ryan Schneider – 2-for-6, 1 2B, 4 RBI. Cam Fisher – 4-for-7, 1 RBI. NORTH PORT – Jake Sutton – 3-for-6, 2 2B, 1 RBI.

GAME 1

DUNEDIN 6, NORTH PORT 5
North Port – 101-120-0---5-9-2
Dunedin – 000-102-3---6-10-2
W – Kreuter. L – Manna. 2B – Turgeon 2 (D), Sutton 2 (NP), Novia (NP), McKeena (NP). Records – D 23-6. NP 18-13.

GAME 2

DUNEDIN 12, NORTH PORT 0
Dunedin – 303-420-0---12-12-0
North Port – 000-000-0---0-1-1
W – Kollenbaum. L – Brandenberger. HR – Kollenbaum 2 (D). 2B – Sweat 2 (D), Schneider (D), Rogers (D). Records – D 24-6. NP 18-14.

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