Things were not looking good for the Mariner Tritons Friday night in the Region 3-4A semifinal playoff when Barron Collier opened an 8-1 lead in the third inning.

The Tritons are no strangers to comebacks this season and were faced with putting together another one. Inning by inning the Tritons picked away at the deficit until they finally tied it up in the seventh to send the game into extra innings.

With the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the ninth, Daniel Alimonti coaxed a ground ball single through the left side of the infield to drive in the game-winning run in a 9-8 victory over the Cougars.

Jason Carmichael was called on to pitch in relief in the third inning with the Tritons trailing 5-1. After surrendering three runs, Carmichael settled down and pitched six scoreless innings to earn the win.

Alimonti (3-for-6, 2 RBI) also cranked a solo home run in the first inning to tie the game 1-1 at the time.

A three-run homer and a solo home run lifted the Cougars to a 5-1 lead in the second.

Mariner played catch-up with two runs in the fourth, two in the fifth, one in the sixth and two in the seventh to tie it up 8-8. It was a two-run home run with two out in the seventh by Audry Santana (2-for-5, 2 RBI) that forced extra innings.

Alex Santana contributed two hits as did Dan Cohill for the Tritons (26-4), who advance to the regional finals next Friday night. The Tritons will host the winner between Lakewood Ranch and Tampa Jesuit which play Saturday.

Barron Collier 143 000 000 – 8 12 4

Mariner 100 221 201 – 9 11 2

W – Jason Carmichael. L – Viera.

2B – Schaedel (BC), Audry Santana (M). HR – Trapaino (BC), Ross (BC), Daniel Alimonti (M), Audry Santana (M).

Updates

Football: Aaron Lynch of Island Coast High School, Sammy Watkins of South Fort Myers High and Mike Blakely of Manatee High have been nominated to play in the 2011 U.S. Army All-American Bowl game, joining an elite group of student-athletes.

Nominated athletes have the chance to play in the game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The East vs. West matchup is televised live on NBC and features the nation’s top high school football players.

The three players were nominated by the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Selection Committee, which consists of All American Games’ network of regional directors throughout the country, Rivals.com and Tom Lemming. Of the 400-plus nominees, 90 ultimately will be selected and invited to the Jan. 8, 2011, game.

The next step for these nominees comes in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Selection Tour, which starts in September, during which the final player rosters will be selected.

Coaches of the Year: Three Ida Baker coaches recently were selected as Lee County Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in their respective sport .

Mick Whitewood was selected in boys’ soccer, Dave Trepkowski was chosen in girls’ soccer and Dan Butler was honored in boys’ track & field.