Indians Stand In Second Place

By Clint Cox

The Chipola Indians baseball squad has gone
4-1 in their last five outings to propel themselves into sole possession of second place in the Panhandle Conference. They swept the Raiders of Northwest Florida State College last week and then followed that series with a win over Pensacola this past Saturday. The Pirates bounced back though on Monday to knock off the Indians.

The sweep over the Raiders included a 10-0 win last Monday and a 10-4 win last Wednesday. The Wednesday win saw them get a solid pitching performance from Rodney Quintero who went seven innings and gave up just one earned run. Quintero scattered six hits and struck out seven Raiders. Chipola jumped out to an early lead on a two run homer by Aaron Etchison. The Indians led 4-1 after three innings but the Raiders tied the game at 4-4 in the fourth. Chipola then plated five runs in the fifth inning to pull away and go on for the six run victory. Etchison was 3-4 on the day with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. The series concluded on Friday with a 9-8 win at home. The Indians took an early 2-0 lead and led 5-1 after five innings. The Raiders plated 2 runs in the sixth only to see the Indians counter with 3 runs in the bottom of the inning. Chipola led 9-4 going into the ninth inning and managed to hold off a furious Raider rally that left Northwest Florida one run short. Garrett Baker got the win for the Indians, going five innings and giving up two runs. Levon Washington led the way on offense as he went 3-5 with a home run, 3 RBI and 2 runs scored.

Pensacola came to town on Saturday and the Indians posted a 7-5 win over the visiting Pirates. Pensacola took the early lead but Chipola rallied to tie the game at 3-3 after four innings. The Indians went up 4-3 in the fifth inning but then fell behind 5-4 in the top of the seventh. Chipola rallied for two runs in the bottom of the inning to reclaim a 6-5 lead. They added another insurance run in the eighth inning to seal the win. The four game winning streak ended on Monday with a 9-7 loss to the Pirates on the road. Chipola lead 7-0 after 3 ½ innings but Pensacola rallied for 9 unanswered runs, starting with five in the bottom of the third inning. They scored runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings while holding the Indians scoreless after three at bats. Joey Rapp and Michael Revell both homered for the Indians in the loss.

Chipola, which stands at 7-7 in conference play and 20-18 overall, was scheduled to play host to the Pirates for the rubber match on Wednesday. Results of that contest were not available at press time. Next up is a three game series against Tallahassee. Chipola will be on the road on Friday at 3 pm and then host the Eagles at 1 pm on Saturday. The final game of the series will be on Monday back in Tallahassee.