Mike Ridaught
The 2021 Santa Fe (Alachua) baseball team is in the record books.
On Thursday, the Raiders defeated Trenton on the road, 5-3, to conclude the regular season with a record of 21-2. Santa Fe finished with its best regular season winning percentage in school history.
They also become just the third team in the last 15 years to reach the 20-win mark.
Junior Landon Rogers finished 2-for-4 with a double and a run batted in and senior Greg Falck had 2 RBI for Santa Fe, which built a 5-0 lead after four innings.
Devan Mitchum picked up the win on the mound. The junior allowed no runs on no hits in three innings of work.
That concludes the regular season for Santa Fe, which will host Suwannee (Live Oak) in Tuesday’s Class 4A-District 2 semifinals with a spot in the postseason on the line.
Elsewhere, Gainesville High defeated Belleview, 13-5, and Buchholz mercy-ruled Eastside, 13-1, on Senior Night.
A trio of sophomores helped give GHS’ only senior, Jonathan Ramsey (1-for-4), a win on Senior Night.
Nate Kemph threw four innings and struck out five to get the win.
Jesus Canizalez went 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in five runs and Colton Kelly drove in three runs and finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
It was the second straight win for GHS (7-17), which will play Springstead (Spring Hill) in Monday’s Class 5A-District 5 Quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Buchholz put its game away with a 10-run fourth inning against the Rams.
Senior Cole Smithers had a double and a triple, drove in a run, and scored twice, while senior Jon Batie led the team with three hits. He scored twice and drove in two runs.
Senior Kaden Cresak finished 1-for-2 with three runs driven in and two runs scored.
All eight seniors had either a hit or an RBI for the Bobcats (17-5-1), which will host either Lincoln (Tallahassee) or Columbia (Lake City) in next Wednesday’s Class 6A-District 2 semifinals.
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