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Threshers end FSL Championship drought

Harman homers on three-hit day as Clearwater tops Brevard County for title
September 11, 2007
Brad Harman's bat stayed hot as host Clearwater topped Brevard County, 5-2, to win the Florida State League Championship on Tuesday.

The Threshers, whose only other league title was in 1993, bounced back from Monday's loss to take the best-of-5 series, 3-1.

Harman finished a triple shy of the cycle in the final game. He belted a two-run homer, his second postseason clout in a three-run first inning, doubled and scored in the fourth and singled in the sixth. He also produced a go-ahead 11th-inning double in the team's 6-4 Game 2 victory.

"This is awesome, unbelievable," said Harman, a 21-year-old second baseman from Australia. "It was great to play with a group of guys who really wanted the [championship] ring."

Harman said the team regrouped after losing Game 3 to the Manatees, 5-4.

"We just took this as another game and played the way we had all year," he said. "We were down to Sarasota, 1-0, and had to win two games at their place to advance [in the semifinals], so we knew we could do it."

Harman smacked a fastball at the knees on the inside half of the plate for his home run.

"I was able to get a good pitch to hit and then hit it," he said.

Jake Blalock, who also had three hits, contributed an RBI single to the first-inning outburst. Brian Burgamy smacked a solo homer, his first of the postseason, in the fourth.

Threshers ace Andrew Carpenter (2-0) allowed two runs on seven hits, striking out six and walking one in 6 1/3 innings to pick up the win and finish the postseason with a 2.92 ERA. He was 17-6 with a 3.20 ERA during the regular season.

Ronald Hill worked around two hits, fanning one, in 2 2/3 scoreless frames to pick up his first save.

Chris Errecart slugged his second postseason homer, a solo shot in the fourth, and Yohannis Perez slammed his first to lead off the top of the seventh for the Manatees.

Brevard County starter Brae Wright (1-1) yielded five runs -- four earned -- on seven hits, striking out one and walking two in 3 1/3 frames to take the loss.

Alan Friedman is a contributor to MLB.com.