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By Craig Brown
The Lake View High School Wild Gators defeated the Green Sea Floyds High School Trojans 10-2 in baseball action Wednesday night in Lake View to claim the Class A Lower State Title.
The Trojans defeated the Gators twice in the regular season but the Wild Gators were ready for this match winning Monday night in Green Sea followed by Wednesday’s blowout in Lake View for the right to play for the State Championship.
Michael McInnis took the mound for the Gators to open the game.
Lead-off batter for the Trojans Dalton Stroud went down with a pop up to Gator catcher Noah Carter. Jaquan Dixon sent a deep line drive to left where Braxton Dimery made the catch for out number two. Grayson Carroll got to base on a hit to center followed by Landon Hill sending a hard bouncer to short where Thomas Skipper made a great stop to keep the ball out of the outfield. A hurried throw allowed the runners to advance to second and third. McInnis got the team out of trouble by striking out the fifth batter Kayden Watson to bring the Gators to bat.
Dixon would start off on the mound for the Trojans.
Lead-off batter Carter followed by Skipper advanced to base on walks. Dimery loaded the bases with a hit to right field. Chris McGill went down at first base on a fielder’s choice but scored Carter to give the Wild Gators a 1-0 lead. Dixon loaded the bases again by walking Shaheed Dawkins. Dixon settled down briefly and struck out Luke Price for the second out but followed by walking Kason Herlong, Landon King and McInnis scoring Skipper, Dimery and Dawkins.
Aaron Graham replaced Dixon on the mound for the Trojans. Carter who started the batting ended it by getting out on an infield grounder. At the bottom of the first the Wild Gators had a 4-0 lead.
Hayden Enzor led off in the top of the second for the Trojans with a base hit to center. Mason Williams sent a hard grounder to Price at third that picked off Enzor at second. Nick Clemmons sent a one-hopper to Skipper at short that took Williams out at second. Aaron Graham flied out to the center fielder to end the Trojans second at-bat trailing the Gators 4-0.
Skipper led off for the Gators going to base on a walk by pitcher. Dimery went down swinging for out one. Skipper playing heads up ball would advance to third base on some bad throws to the plate. McGill sent a high fly to right. Skipper tagged up and scored on McGill’s sacrifice fly. Dawkins picked up his first hit of the game on a line drive to left. Price made it to base on a walk. Herlong sent a fly ball to short left field where Carroll backed up from short to make the play to get the Trojans back to bat. After two innings the Wild Gators had a 5-0 lead.
Stroud led off for the Trojans in the top of the third with a base hit. Skipper made a great stop on the ball in short left preventing the hard hit ball going deep into left. Dixon went down swinging for the first out. Carroll hit to center advancing Stroud to third. Landon Hill flied out to the short stop for the second out. Watson went to first base on a hit by pitcher to load the bases. Enzor hit into a fielder’s choice to put the Wild Gators back at bat. Lead-off batter King followed by McInnis put runners at first and second on walks by pitcher. Carter hit into a fielder’s choice with the Trojans getting McInnis out at second. Skipper drove in King on a base hit. Dimery struck out with McGill fling out to center field. After three innings the Wild Gators had a 6-0 lead.
Williams led off in the fourth for the Trojans and went down swinging. Clemmons made it to first on an error but advanced to second on a bad throw. Graham hit to the mound where McInnis fielded the ball and threw him out at first. Stroud ended the Trojans at bat with a pop fly to center.
Dawkins led off on the fourth for the Gators and quickly went to first after being hit by a pitch. Price joined him on base with a walk. Herlong brought Dawkins home with a base hit to center. King hit into a fielder’s choice with the Trojans getting Price out at second. McInnis made it to base on an error. Carter and Skipper ended the Wild Gators at bat with pop fly outs to right and center. After four the Wild Gators were up 7-0.
The fifth inning would be the Trojans most successful. Dixon led off with a walk. Carroll scored Dixon with a double to right center. Hill advanced to base on a hit by pitch. Watson loaded the bases after he was hit by a pitch. Enzor was unable to bring in any runs as he went down swinging. Williams scored Carroll on a sacrifice fly to right. Clemons ended the Trojan rally with a pop fly to center. After five and a half the Wild Gators lead was cut to 7-2.
Dixon returned to the mound for the Trojans in the fifth a little more settled than the early first inning. Dimery led off for the Gators with a pop fly out to center. McGill could not beat the throw to first base for out number two. Dawkins sent a hit down the left field line for a hit. Price ended the Gator batting going down swinging hard. After five innings Lake View was up 7-2.
Noah Carter took the mound for the Gators in the sixth inning. Carter walked lead-off batter Graham. Graham stole second base for the games only true stolen base.Carter settled down and struck out lead-off batters Stroud and Dixon. Carroll made it to first on an error but hill ended the Trojan at bat with a fielder’s choice.
Herlong led off the sixth inning with a double to left. King went to first on a walk. Tucker Bass in the game for the first time also drew a walk to the base to load them up. Carter scored Herlong on a sacrifice fly to right center. Skipper went out with a fly ball to center. Dimery lined a triple to right center scoring King and McInnis. Dimery tried to go for the inside park home run but got tagged out coming back to third to end the sixth inning. After six innings Lake View was up 10-2.
In the top of the seventh, Carter struck out Watson, William, and Clemons.
On the mound for the Trojans, Dixon pitched three innings, posted two strikeouts, eight walked batter, allowed three hits and seven runs scored for the loss. Clemons pitched three innings, posted two strikeouts, five walked batters, one batter hit by pitch, allowed three hits and three runs scored.
On the mound for Lake View, McInnis posted four strikeouts, one walked batter and three batters hit by a pitch, allowed six hits and two runs scored for the win. Carter pitched two innings, posted five strikeouts, one walked batter with no hits or runs scored in relief of McInnis.
At bat for the Trojans, Stroud was 1 for 4, Dixon was 0 for 3 getting to base on a walk, Carroll was 3 for 3 with a double and a RBI also getting to base on an error, Hill was 1 for 2 getting to base on a hit by pitcher and a fielder’s choice, Watson was 0 for 2 getting to base twice on hit by pitcher, Enzor was 1 for 3 getting to base on a walk, Williams was 0 for 3 with a sacrifice RBI, Clemons was 0 for 3 getting to base on an error and Graham was 0 for 2 getting to base on a walk with a stolen base.
At bat for the Wild Gators Carter was 0 for 2 with a fielder’s choice a walk and a sacrifice RBI, Skipper was 1 for 3 with a RBI getting to base on two walks, Dimery was 2 for 5 with a triple and two RBI, McGill had a fielder’s choice RBI and a sacrifice fly RBI, Dawkins was 2 for 2 getting to base on a walk and a hit by pitch, Price got to base twice on walks, Herlong was 2 for 3 with a double and a RBI, with a walk; King had three walks and a fielder’s choice, and McInnis got to base on two walks and Bass got to base on a walk.