Indians set to host St. John's River in Marianna Regional

The #3 Chipola Indians (#1 FCSAA) will host the St. John's River State College Vikings (29-26) in the newly-created regional format of the FCSAA/Region VIII Tournament on May 6-7, 2022. The winner of the two-out-of-three regional format will advance to the four-team double elimination championship round in Lakeland on May 12-15.

• Game 1: Friday, 6 PM
• Game 2: Saturday, 2 PM
• Game 3: Saturday, 6 PM (if necessary)
• Live Stream
• Live Stats
• Radio: WTYS 94.1 

A look back at the regular season

The Indians finished the regular season at 39-12-1 and won the Panhandle Conference Championship with an 18-6 record. This was the 14th conference championship in Coach Jeff Johnson's 26-year tenure at Chipola. The Indians are making their 19th appearance at the State Tournament under Johnson.

After beginning 2022 outside the Top 20 in the NJCAA Preseason Rankings, the Indians jumped into the first regular season poll on February 28 at #4 with a 16-5 start to the season. Among the 16 wins were victories over preseason ranked teams including #6 Wabash Valley College (current #2), #8 Miami-Dade College (current #18), #3 San Jacinto College (current #14), and #5 Walters State Community College (current #1). The Indians finished the regular season with a 7-3 record over teams ranked in the Top 20.

Chipola finished the regular season winning ten of their last eleven games to distance themselves from the rest of the teams in the Panhandle.

The Indians are batting .288 this season with Tucker Flint posting a .374 average to lead the team. Flint also leads the team in doubles and shares the home run lead with Shane Lewis.

On the mound, the Indians have posted an ERA of 3.57, 12th lowest in the NJCAA and 3rd in the FCSAA. Drew Howard is 7th in the FCSAA with a 2.52 ERA followed by Cedric DeGrandpre at 10th with an ERA of 2.89. Chipola's opponents are batting .236, 16th in the NJCAA. 

Regional opponent

St. John's River State College finished the regular season with an overall record of 29-26. The Vikings finished with a record of 17-13 to take the runner-up position in the Mid-Florida Conference behind the College of Central Florida. The Vikings finished the regular season winning five of their last six games to edge out Seminole State College and earn a spot in the FCSAA/Region VIII Tournament.

The Vikings are batting .284 on the season but their opponents are batting .312 against them. Sophomore Tripp McKinley leads the Vikings with a .330 average and is the only member of the team to have played in all 55 of their regular season games.

A trio of pitchers have recorded double-digit starts for St. John's River.

Sophomore Tanner Bauman has carried most of the load for the Vikings this season having started 13 games and thrown 72.1 innings. Bauman is 3-9 on the season and has a 5.85 ERA.

Freshmen Jarrett Maresco and Logan Schmidt have started 11 and 10 games respectively for St. John's River. Maresco, 5-3 in 2022, has thrown 59.1 innings and carries an ERA of 4.55. Schmidt is 3-1 in 36.1 innings with an ERA of 4.95.

The Vikings and Indians have not faced one another since Chipola swept a doubleheader in Palatka on February 21 of last season, 8-3 and 6-0.

By the numbers

14 - home runs by both Shane Lewis and Tucker Flint; tied for 24th in the NJCAA

20 - doubles by Tucker Flint; 17th in the NJCAA and 3rd in the FCSAA

39 -  the most wins in a regular season for the Indians since the 2017 National Championship team won 40 games before adding 11 wins in the postseason.

61 - RBI by Shane Lewis; 26th in the NJCAA and 3rd in the FCSAA

71 - home runs in the regular season; 13th in the NJCAA & 2nd in the FCSAA

957 - total wins for head coach Jeff Johnson following the 2022 regular season.