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South Fort Myers Little League captures county championship

By KEVIN JOHNSON (Contact)

Monday, April 30, 2007

South Fort Myers Little League will add another championship sign to its already crowded walls at Rutenberg Park.

The Diamondbacks from South’s junior division captured the Lee County championship with wins against the Hancock White Sox, Buckingham Marlins, South’s own Cardinals and finally the Cape Coral Phillies.

Submitted photo

The Diamondbacks from the South Fort Myers Little League’s juniors division celebrate their Lee County championship Thursday at Sam Fleishman Regional Sports Complex in Fort Myers.

"I guess I’ve got to buy another sign," said league president Howard Gold, whose majors and seniors teams have also won county titles in the past two years.

The march to the championship signaled an amazing reversal for the Diamondbacks, who won just three games last season.

"We were horrible last year," said third baseman/pitcher Luke Smith, who led the offense with a 4-for-5 night and three RBI Thursday against Cape Coral at Sam Fleishman Regional Sports Complex.

Most of the Diamondbacks returned this season. Wins have accompanied that extra year of experience.

"This year we’ve got a bunch of returning players that know what to do. Everybody contributes," said Diamondbacks manager Terry Ritchey, whose team is 19-3. "It’s a great group of boys."

When the Diamondbacks built a six-run lead late in Thursday’s Lee County Tournament championship, who could blame them for letting loose. Smith and second baseman Thomas Farley danced to the "Macarena" that blared from speakers between innings.

"Just having a good time," said Smith. "If we were losing, we wouldn’t have been doing that."

Starter Rusty Thomas and Casey Gibson combined for the win on the mound. Thomas worked out of some early inning jams. Gibson, a hard-throwing closer, was solid in holding the lead. He allowed just one run in four innings of relief.

Following the game — which lasted three hours and included a 17-minute delay when the lights went out — District 9 coordinator Mert Leeman presented each Diamondback with a trophy.

"It feels great," said Gibson. "Last year we weren’t a very good team. We built ourselves up."

South Fort Myers Diamondbacks: Chace Ames, Ruel Bennett, Zachary Douglas, Thomas Farely, Casey Gibson, Evan Hart, Stephen Johnson, Tommy Lamers, Travis Parker, Cody Ritchey, Luke Smith, Rusty Thomas. Manager: Terry Ritchey. Coaches: J.T. Thomas, Randy Hart, Mark Lamers.