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Region baseball: Steinbrenner 3, Plant City 2

 
Published April 28, 2016

LUTZ — When Patrick Morris stepped to the plate with one out in the seventh inning of Wednesday's Class 8A region quarterfinal, the Steinbrenner slugger knew he had to be the one to get something started.

While the junior had reached base in all three previous at-bats on two walks and an error, this time, he yearned for something more with the score tied at two apiece following a late Warrior rally.

"Coach said hit me a double," Morris said, "so I was just trying to do something to get on base."

Instead, Morris ended it, taking Plant City ace Billy McKay deep with a solo shot to rightfield to deliver a dramatic 3-2 triumph for Steinbrenner in walk-off fashion.

"In practice, when he has the swing that's like that, they get out of here on a regular basis," Warriors coach John Crumbley said of Morris.

For much of Wednesday's tilt prior to that winning blast, however, Steinbrenner (23-5) had experienced a power outage against the hard-throwing, side-armer McKay, a University of Florida signee.

The Raiders (16-9) built a 2-0 advantage against Warriors starter C.J. Van Eyk on a single by McKay in the third and a double by Matt Moclair in the fifth. On the mound, McKay kept Steinbrenner's potent bats cool, striking out five with the help of two big outs on plays at the plate.

But Steinbrenner finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth as senior Ryan Russell scored Nick Alessi from third on an infield hit. Cam Coakley followed one inning later, singling home Bradley Hession, who had led off with a double over the centerfielder's head.

After Alessi struck out on four pitches to start the seventh, Morris got his chance to swing and capitalized to help the Warriors advance.

"The ironic thing was, Nick Alessi was on base every time and if he was getting on (ahead of Morris), we were bunting him up," Crumbley said. "I told Nick after the game, 'Thanks for striking out that last time.'

"He made me look smart."