MARIANNA—The defending national champion Chipola College Indians (36-10, 16-4)
are headed to the FCSAA State Tournament as Panhandle Conference Champions for a fifth straight year.
The Indians are led in hitting by Max Guzman with a .450 batting average with 14 home runs. Edmond Americaan is hitting .446.
Phillip Sanderson (9-1) and Andrew Grogan (7-1) lead the Indians’ pitching staff. Sanderson has a 2.69 ERA. Grogan has a 2.08 ERA with 2 saves.
Chipola beat Pensacola 2-1 on April 19. Max Guzman and Jared Howell both homered in the game. Howell was 2 for 3. Guzman was 1 for 4. Philip Sanderson (9-1) earned the win with 2 strikeouts in 5 innings. Jared Howell picked up the save in 2 innings of work.
Chipola trounced Pensacola 10-5 on April 16 to win the Panhandle Conference Championship. Austin Bates was 2 for 3 with a home run. Julio Carion was 2 for 4 with 2 home runs. Francisco Urbaez was 2 for 4. Andrew Grogan started for the Indians surrendering 3 runs and 7 hits in 5 innings pitched. Jose Visaez (6-0) earned the win in two innings of work. Jack Dillinger pitched the last two innings.
Chipola hosts Northwest, Saturday, April 21, at 1 p.m. and Gulf Coast, Monday, April 23 at 5 p.m. The Indians finish out the conference season at Gulf Coast on April 25.
Chipola (16-4) is the Panhandle Conference Champion. Other standings as of April 19 are Tallahassee (11-9), Gulf Coast (9-13), Pensacola (9-13) and Northwest (7-13).
Chipola plays the Southern Conference runner-up in the first round of the FCSAA State Tournament, Friday, May 11, at 4 p.m. (CST) at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland.
The Indians are the number two team in the state poll and ranked third in the NJCAA National Poll.