It took surviving a wild final game, and enduring a confusing administrative situation, but Hernando Youth League’s Brooksville Senior Boys (age 14) All-Stars came away with a Dixie Baseball state crown.
Participating in the “B” Division state tournament at Anderson Snow Sports Complex, Brooksville won 17-16 in nine innings over East Lakeland on Wednesday afternoon in a winner-take-all championship tilt.
However, in a bizarre conclusion to the event, Brooksville and East Lakeland ended up being named co-champions. After the last game, state director Frank Hagler realized that one of Brooksville’s bats that he had previously approved was illegal.
Hagler was adamant that full responsibility fell on his shoulders, since he had OK’d the bat, and thus Brooksville was not guilty of any intentional violation.
But according to Brooksville head coach Joey Johnson, that hardly took away from this team’s performance.
“It feels pretty good. Our team, we played pretty hard. We never got down on ourselves,” Johnson said. “We just kept fighting. We kept putting runners in scoring position, putting runners on base, putting the ball in play with two strikes.
“That was the biggest thing we focused on, putting the ball in play with two strikes, moving runners, doing the small things to win ballgames.”
Starting the tournament on July 10, Brooksville got hit hard out of the gate with a 13-0 loss to East Lakeland. Then came three days of dealing with games interrupted by weather delays.
On Monday, Brooksville was leading West Volusia 12-6 when the game was suspended and postponed until Tuesday, finally ending in a 17-6 victory.
Later Tuesday, Brooksville began playing East Lakeland for a second time, but that one was called with the score tied 1-1 in the third. It resumed Wednesday, with Brooksville surviving behind a 9-8 triumph.
Shortly after that finished, those teams squared off again for the title, and that one was also stopped and restarted. Down two runs in the top of the seventh, Brooksville went in front on a three-run home run by Evan Poole.
Though Brooksville added two more insurance runs, East Lakeland battled back with three in the bottom of the inning to force extras.
Poole scored on a passed ball in the eighth, only for East Lakeland to knot it up again. Finally, Nick Tapla hit a solo homer on the first pitch of the ninth and Stevie Taylor came on to pitch in the bottom half, striking out two in a perfect inning of work.
“It was pretty intense, pretty wild,” Johnson said. “We were up and down. The kids went in there and kept fighting.”
Tapla went 8-of-16 for the tournament, with two doubles, two homers, seven runs scored and nine runs batted in. Richard Shirley hit .467, collecting a pair of doubles, seven runs and five RBI. He also stole six bases.
Despite playing at the Senior Boys level, the team was comprised of eight 13-year-olds compared to four 14-year-olds, making the showing more impressive. Johnson added that Brooksville had not won a state title in this age group since 1996.
“It means a lot for HYL baseball itself, to go in and fight and know we had a chance, and taking it home,” Johnson said.
As for the technicality of sharing the crown with East Lakeland, Johnson wasn’t bothered by the decision.
“It was a tough spot. There was a lot of miscommunication,” Johnson said. “I agree with it in a sense. It was a ‘B’ Division tournament. We both fought hard. We’re not going to the World Series but it makes the kids feel good. It’s all about the kids.”
Also at Anderson Snow, the Junior Boys (age 13) State Tournament was held, pitting Spring Hill and Bushnell in a best-of-3. Bushnell captured two tight contests to sweep its way to the title, winning on July 9, 7-6 in eight innings, and on Tuesday, 3-2.
In Liberty County, Brooksville participated in the AAA Majors (age 11-12) State Tournament, going 1-2. After going down to Bushnell on July 9, 15-4, Brooksville bested Marianna the next day, 6-5, then lost to Bushnell again on Monday, 8-0.
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.