#12 Indians open with pair of wins at Ed Davis JUCO Kickoff Tournament

AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Chipola started the 2025 baseball season with a pair of wins at the Ed Davis JUCO Kickoff Tournament in Auburndale on Friday. In game one, the #12 Indians defeated Seminole State, 12-6, and then took down Polk State, 3-1.

Game One

Chipola took advantage of five walks and a hit batter to build a 4-0 lead over Seminole State after the first inning. Sam Parker had the Indians' only hit in the inning, a double that scored Luke Williams for Chipola's first run of the game.

A leadoff walk to J.C. Vanek followed by Zaid Diaz being hit by a pitch led to another Chipola run in the second. After Vanek stole third, Josiah Seguin hit a sac fly to give the Indians a 5-0 lead.

Colin Guerra doubled to lead off the third inning and moved to third on a single by Nick Croce. With two outs, Guerra scored on a wild pitch and Vanek walked. Diaz hit a line drive into left field to score Croce. Parker put Chipola up 8-0 with a RBI single that scored Vanek from second.

While Chipola was putting runs on the board, starting pitcher Miguel Hugas was keeping the Raiders scoreless. Hugas retired nine of the eleven batters he faced in three innings of work.

Seminoles would get a single run in the fourth and fifth innings then a pair of runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings.

Chipola continued scoring in the fourth on a Luke Williams two-out double that scored Guerra who had walked earlier in the inning.

After the first two Chipola batters were retired in the fifth, Josiah Seguin doubled and Michael Mullinax was hit by a pitch, the third Chipola batter plunked in the game. Guerra followed with his second hit of the game to score Seguin and Nick Croce doubled to pick up his third hit of the game. Mullinax and Guerra scored on Croce's double giving him three RBIs for the game and Chipola their final two runs of the game.

Game Two

After receiving ten free passes in game one, Chipola used a pair of walks, a stolen base, and passed ball to take an early 1-0 lead in the first inning of game two against Polk State.

The Indians scored in five of their six trips to the plate in game one but found scoring to be more difficult against the Eagles.

With two outs in the fourth, Nick Croce collected his fourth hit of the day to give the Indians a baserunner after the Eagles had retired nine of the previous ten Chipola batters. After Derek Gonzalez walked to push Croce to second, Luke Williams picked up the first of his two hits in the game to score Croce and give Chipola a 2-0 lead.

In the top of the seventh, three consecutive singles from the top third of the lineup loaded the bases with no outs. Following a strikeout for the first out of the inning and Williams at third, J.C. Vanek at second, and Zaid Diaz at first, Josiah Seguin's ground ball out to second plated the third Chipola run of the game.

With runs hard to come by in game two, Chipola needed a strong performance on the mound. As Hugas had done in game one, Chipola's game two starter Trenton Lape kept the Eagles off the board. Although Polk State had baserunners reach third in the first two innings, Lape kept the Eagles form pushing a run across through three innings. Lape allowed three hits and a walk but struck out four in his collegiate debut.

Sophomore Cam Freeman came on in the fourth and although he allowed a walk and a single in the inning, freshman catcher Derek Gonzalez caught the Polk baserunner trying to steal second. Freeman appeared to be cruising in the fifth after retiring the first two Eagles' hitters but a pair of singles sandwiched around a walk, loaded the bases and threated Chipola's 2-0 lead. Freeman picked up his first strikeout of the season when he froze the Polk State batter and protected the lead.

Freeman allowed a two out walk in the sixth, but a ground ball to Chipola's third baseman, Croce, kept the shutout intact and turned the game over to Jack Smith to get the save in the seventh.

After Chipola scored in the top half of the inning to up their lead to 3-0, Smith walked the first two hitters he faced in the bottom half. With the tying run coming to the plate and runners at the corners, Coach Jeff Johnson turned to sophomore transfer Collier Barham to get the final three outs.

On his second pitch, Barham induced a double play that gave the Eagles their first run of the game but emptied the bases. Barham picked up his first save of the season after the next batter popped up to Guerra at second for the final out.

Up Next

Chipola will wrap up play in Auburndale with another pair of games against FCSAA/Region VIII opponents. At 11 AM CST, the Indians will face Hillsborough then take on the College of Central Florida at 2 PM CST.