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State baseball: Bishop McLaughlin bows out in Class 3A semifinals

 
Chris Berglund (18) of Bishop McLaughlin, at bat during second inning of the FHSAA class 3A semi-final on Friday May 26, 2017 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Fla. Canterbury, Fort Myers, defeated Bishop 7 to 4. Canterbury will play in the 3A championship tomorrow.
Chris Berglund (18) of Bishop McLaughlin, at bat during second inning of the FHSAA class 3A semi-final on Friday May 26, 2017 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Fla. Canterbury, Fort Myers, defeated Bishop 7 to 4. Canterbury will play in the 3A championship tomorrow.
Published May 26, 2017

FORT MYERS — One inning into Bishop McLaughlin's Class 3A state semifinal against Fort Myers Canterbury, things could not have gone much better for the Hurricanes. They grabbed a quick one-run lead and Canterbury ace Sam Keating was forced out of the game with a nagging neck injury.

But costly errors in the final six innings, along with some timely hitting by Canterbury, resulted in a 7-4 loss Friday afternoon at Hammond Stadium. It was the second state semifinal loss in three years for the Hurricanes.

Canterbury, the defending Class 3A state champion, will play Jacksonville University Christian for the championship.

"To have Keating leave after the first inning I thought was a positive sign for us," Bishop McLaughlin coach Jeff Swymer said. "(Relief pitcher Tyler) Shuck came in and did a good job, but we let him off the hook some. We struck out in key situations and our defense let us down some. Some routine plays we didn't make that turned the momentum of the game."

Bishop McLaughlin (22-9) scratched out a run in the top of the first inning. Leadoff batter Bryce Carroll was hit by a Keating pitch. He went to second on a wild pitch and got to third on a passed ball with one out. Dillon Morton then came through with a groundball single to right to drive in Carroll.

"It was a slider away and I just barreled it up," Morton said. "Once it got through I thought we had a good chance of staying in it."

With Keating out and Shuck in, Bishop McLaughlin didn't add any runs until the fifth inning. Canterbury, however, took the lead for good in the second.

Giovany Lorenzo doubled off Hurricane starter Dominic Diaz with one out, went to third on a wild pitch and scored with two outs on an infield error. That was followed by a Donovan Duvay single and a Giovanni Digiacomo double that drove in two runs.

The lead swelled to 5-1 in the fourth inning. The Cougars put two runners on with no outs, but the Hurricanes managed to get two outs without the runs scoring. Then a throwing error on an infield grounder allowed two to score.

"There's not a breath you can take in their lineup, so when you make a mistake it's costly," Swymer said. "It just puts constant pressure on you. There was never an easy inning."

Bishop McLaughlin did not go away. It scored three runs off Shuck in the fifth inning. Paul Coumoulos hit a flyball to right with two outs, but the ball was dropped and one run scored. After a walk loaded the bases, Shafer Magee came through with a two-RBI single to cut the lead to 5-4.

Canterbury got two runs in the bottom of the fifth to extend the lead. The Hurricanes loaded the bases with one out in the sixth inning but were unable to push a run across. Zack Berglund and Adam Berry each singled to put two runners on. With one out, Cam Diaz was hit by a pitch to load it up, but he was picked off first base for the second out. After a walk, Coumoulos flew out to left to end the inning.

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"That can't happen," Swymer said of the pickoff. "We'll work on that moving forward."

Canterbury (26-5) used six pitchers, who scattered six hits. Dominic Diaz pitched 4 2/3 innings and gave up nine hits, struck out three and allowed seven runs, two of which were earned. He said it wasn't easy pitching in the middle of the day.

"It was brutal," he said. "Just warming up in the bullpen I thought I was already in my fourth inning."