The Chipola Indians took third place in the presitigous Panama City Beach College Baseball Classic held over the weekend. Nine of the sixteen teams that participated in the tournament receieved votes in the NJCAA's preseason rankings with four of the teams being in top ten.
The Indians only had three hits in the game but they got all of the runs they needed with two of those. In the sixth inning, Shane Lewis hit his second home run of the season to tie the score 1-1 heading to the 7th inning. With two outs in the seventh, Zac Rice singled into right field to score Cesar Franco from second for the walk off win.
Ben Fielder picked up his first collegiate win coming on in relief of starter Drew Howard. Fielder entered in the fifth with two outs and did not allow a hit or run while striking out two in 2.1 innings. Howard struck out seven in 4.2 innings of work and allowed one run on three hits.
Chipola - 8 Miami-Dade - 2
On Saturday, the Indians took on 2021 FSCAA Champion, Miami-Dade College, the #8 ranked team in the NJCAA preseason poll.
The Indians got the scoring started in the top of the first after leadoff hitter,
Tucker Flint, continued his hot start to the season, with a double and later scored on a single from
David Castillo.
The Sharks struck back in each of their first two at bats, scoring a run in each inning on two out hits to take a 2-1 lead after two innings.
Following three consecutive walks to Chipola hitters in the top of the third,
Cesar Franco hit a grand slam, his second home run of the season, to give the Indians all of the runs they would need. For good measure, Chipola would add three more runs in the fourth inning on RBI singles from
Cam Collier and
David Castillo.
Cedric De Grandpre picked up his second win of the season pitching four innings and giving up just one earned run. De Grandpre struck out 7 while allowing 6 hits and 1 walk.
Dylan Eskew threw three innings of shutout relief for the save, striking out three and allowing just two hits.
The win put the Indians in the semifinal round and gave them their second win in back-to-back days over top ten ranked teams.
Chipola - 0 Northwest Florida - 3
Chipola met up with Panhandle Conference rival, Northwest Florida, in the semifinals and lost a pitching duel, 3-0.
After a leadoff double and two hit batters loaded the bases in the top of the first inning, the Raiders took an early 1-0 lead on a passed ball with two outs.
The Indians had opportunities to score but never could seem to push a run across. In the first and sixth innings, Chipola loaded the bases with two outs but strikeouts kept them scoreless.
The Raiders added a pair in the top of the seventh to win the game 3-0 and move on to the championship game.
Kenya Huggins took the loss for the Indians, throwing four innings and giving up one run on one hit and one walk. Huggins struck out seven.
Chipola - 13 Wallace-Hanceville - 0
In the battle for third place, the Indians took advantage of 6 walks, 4 hit batters, 6 wild pitches and a passed ball to defeat Wallace-Hanceillve Community College from Alabama, 13-0.
The Indians will head to Phenix City, Alabama on Wednesday to take on Chattahoochee Valley Community College in a 9 inning game. This weekend, Coach Jeff Johnson and the Indians will welcome back alumni and perennial powers Walters State and San Jac back to Marianna. Games on Friday begin at 11 AM and on Saturday at 10 AM.
