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Gulf Coast holds off Chipola rally
MARIANNA, Mar 21, 2010 (The News Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
First place didn't come without a fight for the Gulf Coast baseball team on Saturday.
The Commodores scored four runs in the ninth inning and held off homestanding Chipola College 8-6. It was GC's second straight Panhandle Conference win, both coming against the Indians, as it improved to 25-6, 4-1 and remained a half-game ahead of Tallahassee. Chipola dipped to 16-16, 3-5.
Cam Greathouse held Chipola hitless through six innings and Tyler Reimer drove in five runs to pace GC. But the o u t c o m e was in jeopardy until a n I n d i a n rally finally was snuffed b y N i c k Allbritton.
"The bottom line is i t d o e s n' t matter how pretty it is," G C c o a c h Mike Kandler said. "You just need to get three outs in any way before they tie it up."
Chipola struck first, when Joey Rapp's grounder scored Blake Newalu in the Indians' initial at-bat. Gulf Coast went up 3-1 in the third inning on Tyler Reimer's three-run home run. Bryce Lane homered in the fifth to up the lead to 4-1.
Greathouse kept the Indians off the scoreboard until the seventh, when Aaron Etchison hit a solo homer. Greathouse was replaced by Allbritton in the eighth following back-to-back walks.
Allbritton coerced Jonathan Gilbert into a 6-4-3 double play, leaving LeVon Washington at third base. Etchison doubled in Washington to narrow the gap to 4-3. Cody Martin flied out to left field to end the threat.
Lane singled in Cyle Rasmus to extend the advantage to 5-3 in the ninth. Reimer gave GC more insurance by doubling in Lane and Whitt Dorsey against Chipola reliever Duncan Midkiff. The bleeding didn't stop there, as Nick Ratajczak, who was 2 for 4, doubled in Reimer before Jeremy Boyte's grounder ended the inning.
Chipola loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Allbritton struck out Washington for the second out. A run came in on a hit batsmen with the bases loaded, Newalu scored on a fielder's choice and Rapp came around on one of four GC errors.
Etchison flied out to center to end the game.
"It's a huge win because we beat a really good baseball team at their place," Kandler said. "They are so good and everyone is this league can score runs in a hurry."
Greathouse had trouble finding the strike zone despite holding Chipola at bay most of the game. He had nine strikeouts to go along with seven walks and three hits in his 6-plus innings and improved to 4-1.
Rodney Quintero took the loss, giving up four runs on four hits with four strikeouts and four walks in 4 1/3 innings.
The three-game series wraps up Monday at 5 p.m. in Panama City.
GC softball canceled:
GC's home doubleheader against Georgia Military was canceled. No makeup date was announced. The Lady Commodores play at Pensacola on Tuesday.
To see more of The News Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.newsherald.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The News Herald, Panama City,
Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax
to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave.,
Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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