TAMPA - From the first time a bat touched a ball during Thursday's semifinal game between Bloomingdale and Chamberlain, it was obvious the Bulls were going to be fighting an uphill battle.
Bulls shortstop Mitch Rodriguez took a high chopper off the bat of Steven Howard and threw it high to first base. The play was ruled a hit but it typified a night in which Bloomingdale would endure one of its worst defensive nights of the season.
The Bulls committed five errors and watched as Chamberlain earned a 9-5 victory. It was an unexpectedly lopsided win considering two of the Chiefs three losses this season are to Bloomingdale and the Bulls had held Chamberlain to a total of two hits in those games.
The win moves Chamberlain into tonight's 7:30 championship game at the University of Tampa. The Chiefs have not won a Saladino title since 1985.
Despite the errors and lack of Bloomingdale offense - six singles and a double - the game was much closer than the score indicated. The biggest difference was everything Chamberlain did worked out well while Bloomingdale couldn't seem to get any kind of momentum on its side.
Case in point: When Chief starter Tom Nofsinger tired after 31/3 innings, coach Dick Rohrberg called on Bobby Ebberly and Mike Austin, who combined to hold the Bulls scoreless over the final 32/3 innings. Neither had pitched before Thursday.
"I just did what I had to do," said Ebberly, who earned the win. "It was scary at first but I relaxed after the first guy reached base."
Bloomingdale, meanwhile, mounted two rallies late in the game but couldn't get the break it needed.
Trailing by a run in the sixth, runners on first and second with no outs, center fielder Ryan Strauss, who finished the tournament with 10 RBIs, grounded into a double play. The next batter was robbed of a hit by a diving Howard in center field.
In the seventh, the Bulls (11-2) loaded the bases and had the tying run at the plate but watched as Tony Thomas struck out swinging.
"This was as bad as we've been all year," Bloomingdale coach K.B. Scull said. "We just didn't play a good ball game."
