By DAREK SHARP | The Tampa Tribune

PLANT CITY - Sure, the storybook tale of Chelsea Baker and her very talented Plant City All-Star teammates had to end at some point this season.

But the preferred locale would have been Williamsport, Penn., site of the Little League World Series. Instead, it was a hot day in Valrico and a scoring outburst by a determined team from Bradenton that concluded the story.

Plant City was one inning away from advancing to the state but lost a wild, 19-16 game to Manatee East in the Section IV tournament.

Baker, whose two perfect games over the last two seasons brought her national recognition, was set to be the star of the Saturday's game until things went awry in the final frame.

"It just wasn't meant to be," her manager Steve Gude said.

After Manatee East had turned a 4-1 Plant City lead into a tie game in the second inning, Baker entered and with runners on second and third base, struck out the next two batters to keep it at 4-4.