Mike Ridaught
On Thursday night, the season came to an end for several area baseball and softball teams.
The biggest surprise was in Alachua, where the Class 4A No. 3 Santa Fe baseball team lost for just the third time all season, falling to visiting Arnold (Panama City Beach), 6-4, in the Class 4A state playoffs.
The Marlins took advantage of some Raider mistakes in the first inning and scored five runs in the top of the first inning.
They led 6-2 after three innings before Santa Fe closed the gap to within two on an RBI double by Landon Rogers and a bases loaded walk by Devan Mitchum to make it 6-4 in the fifth inning.
However, the Raiders failed to score in the final two innings. Santa Fe’s season ends at 23-3.
Elsewhere, Keystone Heights lost at home to Episcopal (Jacksonville), 5-1, in a Class 3A-Region 1 Quarterfinal.
The Indians were led by senior Carson Osteen with two hits. Junior Ty Glenn drove in the only run for KHHS, which finished the season at 15-13.
(SOFTBALL) – Dixie County (Cross City) got a solo home run from Emily Chewning to defeat Williston on the road, 1-0, in a Class 1A Regional Semifinal.
The Bears (20-2) will travel to Trenton on Tuesday for the Regional Finals. The winner will advance to the state semifinals in Clermont.
Meanwhile, Union County’s season came to an end with a 14-5 loss at home to Taylor County (Perry) in Class 1A.
The Lady Tigers (12-9) led 3-2 after two innings, but the Bulldogs (18-8) scored five in the fourth inning and three in the seventh to put the game away.
Junior McKenzie Clemons led Union County with three hits, while junior Starla Vaughn had two hits, a double, an RBI and a run scored.
(JUCO BASEBALL) – With their backs up against the wall, and down to their final three outs of the season, the Santa Fe College baseball team kept their season alive with an 8-7 win against Indian River State College at the FCSAA state tournament at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland.
Luis Rodriguez hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to tie the game at 7-7 and send the game into extra innings.
Then, in the bottom of the 11th inning, Dylan Mock reached on an error and eventually scored on a walk-off hit by Xavier Moronta to win it 8-7.
Santa Fe will play at 4 p.m. on Friday against the loser of Thursday night’s late game between Miami Dade College and Pensacola State College.
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