SEMINOLE — Seminole dispatched St. Petersburg 8-4 on its homefield Thursday to claim the 23rd annual Steve Georgiadis Tournament. The Warhawks avenged last year’s final, in which the Green Devils topped them in eight innings.
“This is finally developing into quite a rivalry,” Warhawks coach Jeff Pincus said.
The Green Devils also handed Seminole its first loss of this season, 4-3 in February. If the early going Thursday was any indication, there would be fireworks as Seminole led 8-3 after the fourth.
“It looked like it was going to be a football score for a while there,” Pincus said.
But pitching and defense took hold. Seminole catcher Douglas Borgh made two stellar plays in the second, catching David Sockol leading off second base and Chris Colonel trying to steal second.
“I took the same approach all year,” said Borgh, the defensive MVP of the tournament. “I expect them to try and steal during the first two pitches, so I’m ready to throw after each pitch.”
Seminole went to the well of defense again in the fifth when St. Petersburg loaded the bases with no outs. Pincus called on reliever Nick Lamoureaux. He got John Miller to hit into a 7-4 double play and a flyout by Aaron Houghton to escape giving up only one run.
The Green Devils got contributions from Richie Rivera, who went 3-for-4, and reliever Alex Wilson, who threw four innings, escaping a jam in the fourth and giving up only one run and no hits with three strikeouts and a walk the rest of the way.
“(Wilson) had us way off-balance,” Pincus said. “I was happy we put up eight (runs) when we did. “All the things that led to last year’s loss, we reversed.”