South Fork tops West Boca Raton 11-2; Thursday's other district baseball results

Thursday, April 30, 2009

The power in South Fork's lineup is not only a danger to opposing pitchers, but also to stadium fixtures.

Nick Zaharion and Kyle Hunter each homered off a light pole at Dwyer High as the Bulldogs beat West Boca Raton 11-2 for the District 14-5A title.

Zaharion put the top-ranked Bulldogs (23-3) up 4-2 with an opposite-field, two-run homer off the right-field light pole in the third inning. Hunter, South Fork's No. 9 hitter, drilled a 2-0 pitch off the post in left field to lead off the fourth.

"Everybody's joining in right now," Zaharion said. "It makes them be a little more cautious with their pitches."

Bulldogs starting pitcher Brian Woody allowed two earned runs and struck out five in four innings. Woody (6-0) exited after giving up a leadoff double to Chase Green in the fifth, but senior Steve Carafano came on in relief to strike out three straight and end the threat. Carafano struck out six of the 10 batters he faced in three shutout innings.

"I knew if Woody got us through four or five, Carafano's been lights out every time," Bulldogs coach Mike Harper said.

West Boca Raton (12-13) tied it 2-2 on Tyler Green's solo home run to center field.

Freshman Parker Danciu (5-5) struggled in the third when he gave up four hits and his defense committed two errors. The Bulls made four errors overall.

"We were right with them, and then we had a bad inning," West Boca Raton coach Brian Joros said. "You can't make errors behind a young pitcher."

South Fork will host to Satellite in Tuesday's regional quarterfinals. West Boca will play at Port St. Lucie.

- Jason Lieser

District 13-5A

Port St. Lucie 6, Satellite Beach 5: Matt Nocito was 3-for-4 as the Jaguars (17-10) edged the Scorpions in the district final in Fort Pierce.

District 13-3A

LaBelle 3, Clewiston 2: Joey Cordova was 3-for-3 with a homer, but the Tigers (9-11) fell in the semifinals in Riverdale.

District 13-3A

Cardinal Newman 16, St. Andrew's 9: Jimmy Holton hit three home runs and drove in five runs, leading the Crusaders (14-12) to the rout of the Scots (14-11) in the final in Boca Raton.

District 13-1A

Community Christian 5, Wellington Christian 4: Jesse Williams was 3-for-3 with an RBI, leading the third-seeded Cougars (15-11) past the second-seeded Eagles in the semifinals in Stuart.

District 14-1A

Lake Worth Christian 11, Boca Raton Christian 6: Vance Mickelson was 4-for-4 with two RBI as the Defenders (12-13) beat the Blazers in the district final in Lake Worth.