South Fork shocks Bulls in district final

Published April 28th, 2008

By Mario Sarmento
SPORTS EDITOR

South Fork right fielder Nick Zaharion said his arm felt “pretty good” in warm-ups.
Little did he know how much that arm would come into play in the biggest game of the season yet for his Bulldogs.

Leading West Boca Raton High 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning in the District 14-5A championship Thursday, Mason Mattlin lofted a fly ball to shallow right field.

Cody Emerson, the runner at third base, broke for the plate, and what happened next will be remembered for a long time in South Fork lore.

Zaharion took a few short steps towards the ball, caught it, and unleashed a perfect throw to home plate.
Catcher Ryan Breen applied the tag, and South Fork was able to preserve a 3-2 win for the first district championship in school history.

“When I caught it, I just let it rip to the plate,” Zaharion said. “I just threw it as hard as I could. Just wanted to make sure it made it to the plate.”

West Boca coach Brian Joros had a different opinion of the play.

“Cody has the player’s (Breen) cleat marks on his arm from where the player stood on him,” he said.

Even after Zaharion’s double play, the Bulldogs were still not out of trouble.

Nick Worrall singled to center for the Bulls, who held pinch runner Jon Maldonado at third base.

Rick Conaway then walked to load the bases, but senior pitcher Brandon Cowan, who entered a tied game in the sixth inning, struck out Rick Versace swinging to give the Bulldogs the win.

South Fork (21-5) will host a regional playoff game Tuesday, while the Bulls (18-9) will be on the road.
Cowan emerged as the offensive hero in the top half of the inning, when South Fork coach Mike Harper called for a suicide squeeze from his pitcher with one out and Breen on third base.

Cowan got the bunt down perfectly, and Breen scored without a throw.

“When I got up there, I just hoped for the best and hoped it stayed fair,” Cowan said.
The way the game started it didn’t seem the Bulldogs would need any heroics.

Harper’s son Danny no-hit the Bulls through four innings, and the Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead on a bases loaded walk by Zaharion in the third that scored a run, and a double to right center by Spencer Dickinson that scored Blake Cilwick in the fourth.

But with two out and two on in the fifth, Nick Pepia ripped a two-strike single to center to score both runners. It was the only hit Harper surrendered on the night.

From there the Bulls appeared to have the edge, as freshman Michael Kelly replaced shaky Jay Whalen and Dusty Albanese, who between them walked five batters and hit three in the first 4 1/3 innings.

Kelly gave up just one hit the rest of the way, the double to Breen that led to the winning run in the eighth.
Afterwards, the South Fork players doused a gleeful Mike Harper with Gatorade.

“We sure got the monkey off our back,” he said with a smile.