CCC Marauders Top Countryside in Epic Championship Game

They both deserved to be there.

Countryside knocked out River Ridge. They then edged East Lake and soaked the Spongers. 

Clearwater Central Catholic battled through a marathon 15-inning game with Pinellas Park . Then they smoked St. Petersburg in five innings.  Next, they proceeded to knock out red-hot Tampa Catholic.

The collision between the two teams in the final game at the Dunedin Spring Classic Saturday went like a heavy weight fight but the Marauders took the win 7-6.

“They’ve done this all season, come up with big innings in the clutch,” Countryside coach Kemo O'Sullivan said. “Our pitching leaked a little bit and our defense let us down a little.”

Both teams drew blood in the first inning; Countryside off a Kiefer Sullivan double to left-center and CCC off a Jeff Campell single to center.

Both teams put up empty frames in the second inning.

Countryside got one run in the third off a Chris Frey triple that made the center field wall. However, CCC came back strong in their half of the third. Benny Mendizabal singled to right and Ray Fox walked to set up two-on-and-one-out for Seth Paitsel. Who crushed a pitch over the fence in deep left center.

“That was only the second homerun of my career," Paitsel said. "I looked up at it and I knew it was gone."

Neither team could get a run across in the fourth. Despite the 7-6 final score, both pitchers threw well. Several of the runs especially runs off Countryside’s Dominic Monda late in the game, were unearned.

Countryside got one run back in the top of the fifth inning off a Kiefer Sullivan triple that drove in Monda but Frey was waved home and tagged out at the plate for the third out. The missed run would come back to haunt the Cougars.

The sixth inning was epic.

Countryside was down a run and needed a spark. But it would take a few batters to warm up. Eric Russel walked and Jake Mielock struck out. Then Adam Rasmussen smacked a double to right field and CCC’s Eric Simone jumped on it, scooped it up and threw a rocket to Jeff Campbell at third base and Russel was tagged out trying to get from first to third.

That was about when CCC’s Dave Slattery ran out of gas. Slattery had pitched a great five innings, fanning four batters and only giving up 3 runs but his time was up. He beaned Brad Dunham pinch-hitting for Brenden Hewitt. Then CCC’s Jason Campbell muffed a grounder Dalton Martinez hit at him.

Countryside’s Vinny Ballantoni stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. CCC brought in Charlie Lamar to pitch.

Countryside prevailed in the pressure situation as Ballantoni laced a single, driving in Rasmussen and Dunham. The Countryside bench and cheering section lit up as the Cougars took the lead. Monda followed that with a single to right to drive in Martinez.

However, defense is where the pressure got to Countryside. Monda walked a batter then another reached on an error. A well-placed Benny Mendizabal sacrifice bunt sent the runners to second and third. Monda struck out Fox to get the second out.

Down to their last out, the Marauders refused to go away. With first base open the Cougars walked Paitsel.

Here it was, pressure cooker part two. Jeff Campbell came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded, down by two. Campebell’s at bat was a good one and he let a few bad pitches go and fouled off a few others. With the count full, Monda missed his target and ball four walked in the tying run.

O’Sullivan went out to talk to Monda and got him calmed down.

Monda threw a good pitch to Carter Cashman who grounded out to second base, only Cougar second baseman, Eric Russel bobbled it. Russel still had a chance to get the runner but his throw was in the dirt and Cashman made it to first base while the go-ahead run crossed the plate. Russel came in to pitch for Monda and got Ryan Hallam to line out for the third out.

Monda walked away from the mound having thrown more then 100 pitches, striking out ten through six innings. He gave up four earned runs.

The Cougars could not mount any offense in the top of the seventh. It took four batters for the Marauders to get the last three outs.