FCSAA DI Baseball All-Tournament Team
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - The Florida SouthWestern State College Buccaneers won their first FCSAA Division I Baseball Championship on Tuesday, defeating the College of Central Florida, 6-5.
With the win, Florida SouthWestern also punched a ticket to the NJCAA Division I Baseball World Series in Grand Junction, Colo.
Central Florida forced the "if" game thanks to a pair of ninth-inning rallies on Sunday. The Patriots erased a 4-1 deficit, scoring four times in the ninth to beat Gulf Coast State College, 5-4. Then, trailing Florida SouthWestern, 14-13, Central Florida scored five times in the ninth to claim an 18-14 victory.
Monday's scheduled finale was postponed due to rain, giving players, coaches and fans an additional 24 hours to prepare for a game whose outcome was in doubt until the final pitch.
The teams traded runs - and did all its scoring - through the first six innings.
Dawson Harman, the FCSAA's leading home run hitter, smacked a solo shot in the top of the first to start the scoring. The Patriots scored two runs in both the third and fifth innings.
Florida SouthWestern did its scoring in the second, fourth and sixth innings.
Michael McAloose got the Bucs on the board with an RBI-single in the second, tying the score at 1-1. Trailing 5-4 in the sixth, his two-run homer to left put FSW back in front, 6-5.
Bucs starter Abel Albarran struck out the leadoff man in the Patriots' half of the sixth then handed things off to the bullpen, where a trio of relievers combined to limit Central Florida to just three hits over the final 3.2 innings.
Beau Brailey was credited with the win. Nicholas Lorenz, who received the Robert Perky Memorial Award as the tournament's Most Outstanding Pitcher, protected the one-run lead to earn the save.
He retired all five batters he faced, including a strikeout of Harman to end the game.
Carlos Sanchez, who went 2-for-3, scored twice and stole two bases, received the Bob Zelinski Award, presented to the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
By virtue of winning the game, FSW's Zac Cole received the FCSAA Coach of the Year award.