Seven Baseball Players Named to All-Panhandle Conference Team
Chipola had four players named to the First Team; Three to the Second Team
Seven members of the 2022 Chipola baseball team along with their head coach received Panhandle Conference honors in an announcement from the Florida College System Activities Association on Monday.
Head coaches from the five Panhandle Conference teams selected First and Second teams comprised of 17 players each. Click here to see the entire list of All-Conference award winners from all four conferences in the FCSAA.
Sophomore Tucker Flint was named the Panhandle's Player of the Year after leading the Indians with a .374 batting average and 14 home runs. Flint started every game and hit safely in 42 of the Indians' 52 games. From March 19 until April 16, Flint had a 16-game hit streak and helped the Indians to a 12-4 record during that span.
Joining Flint on the Panhandle Conference First Team was Cam Collier, Drew Howard, and Shane Lewis.
Although Collier missed the final four games of the regular season due to an injury he suffered on April 16 against Pensacola, the young freshman was third on the team in total hits (54) and finished with a .333 batting average, second on the team. At the time of his injury, he was on an eight-game hit streak. Collier is expected to return to the lineup when the Indians begin the FCSAA/Region VIII Tournament on Friday.
Drew Howard finished the 2022 regular season with a 7-2 record on the mound and a 2.52 ERA. The second-year right-hander from Whitby, Canada, became a steadying force on the pitching staff, going 3-0 in games he started following a Chipola loss. In the three wins, Howard threw 19 innings and only allowed one run which was scored on a ground ball that turned into a double play. Even more important, the wins were following a loss in conference play.
Shane Lewis joined Flint in starting all 52 games for the Indians and batted .314 for the season. Lewis shared the home run lead with Flint in home runs at 14 and led the Indians in RBIs with 61. He had three games this season in which he tallied 6 or more RBIs.
For the 14th time in his 26-year career, head coach Jeff Johnson was named the Panhandle Conference Coach of the Year. Coach Johnson has an overall record at Chipola of 957-434-3. His team will make their 19th appearance in the FCSAA/Region VIII tournament since Johnson became the head coach.
Three members of the 2022 team also made the All-Conference Second Team: Taylor Clapp, Cedric De Grandpre, and Zac Rice.
The Indians will host St. John's River State College on May 6-7 in the Marianna Regional of the FCSAA/Region VIII Tournament. Friday's game will begin at 6 PM. Game two of the series will be at 2 PM on Saturday and will be followed by a 6 PM game, if necessary. The team that wins twice will advance to the four-team double elimination championship round in Lakeland on May 12-15.