Basil Spyridakos, Times Correspondent
Saturday, February 26, 2011
DUNEDIN — Dunedin and Seminole may be considered the district's top teams, but don't tell East Lake coach Dan Genna.
"We were under the radar going into it and we kept it that way," Genna said. "We definitely like playing the underdog."
East Lake broke open the game in the sixth inning and held on, handing rival Dunedin their first loss of the season, winning 5-4 Friday night.
East Lake's Eric Handhold allowed four hits and five strikeout through five, while Dunedin's Colyn O'Connell had 13 strikeouts and allowed only one walk through six innings, but errors in the sixth cost the Falcons.
O'Connell struck out Travis Fortin, but a passed ball allowed him to reach first. Justin DiSanto walked and Garrett Franklin put down a sacrifice bunt that was mishandled, allowing for a bases-loaded situation.
Grant Hodges cracked an RBI single toward second and Austin Bembnowski lined one up with middle for a two-run single. East Lake (6-1, 2-1) would score four times, making the score 4-2.
"This was the one team that I really wanted to beat because they've had our number the last three years," said Hodges, who hit another RBI single in the seventh, proving to be the winner.
Dunedin (4-1, 1-1) scored in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run single by Mike Clarkson, but DiSanto forced a groundout.
"We still had a chance to win in the sixth and in the seventh inning, and we fought hard against a good team," Dunedin coach Tom Hilbert said. "Our district's going to be that way."