Big inning helps Chiefland eliminate Williston in district semifinals

Chiefland's Trey Meeks (44) celebrates with teammates after hitting a three-run home run in the top of the first inning against Williston a the Rural District 7 semifinal. Photo by C.J. Gish
Chiefland's Trey Meeks (44) celebrates with teammates after hitting a three-run home run in the top of the first inning against Williston a the Rural District 7 semifinal.
Photo by C.J. Gish

If there is one thing that the Chiefland baseball team has struggled with this season, it has been getting the clutch or timely hit.

On Tuesday night in the FHSAA Rural District 7 semifinals at Levy County rival Williston, the No. 3 seed Indians got plenty of them in a 7-3 win against the No. 2 seed Red Devils.

For the second consecutive year, the Indians are headed to the district title game. They will play at top-seed Trenton at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

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“It feels great,” said Chiefland coach Chad Brock. “The program has been pretty consistent. It’s the second year in a row we got a chance to play for a district title. That’s exciting. It says a lot about our group of guys. They’ve been in the program for a few years now and bought in and just want to make the best of their senior season with all of those seniors (10) I’ve got. Hats off to them.”

One of those seniors was shortstop Trey Meeks (2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 runs), who drilled a Jacob Loock pitch over the wall in right-center field for a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Loock (one-third inning pitched, 3 runs, 2 walks, 1 hit by pitcher) left the game one batter later.

Chiefland's Taylor Brown (6) pitched a complete game 7-3 win over Williston in a Rural District 7 semifinal. Photo by C.J. Gish
Photo by C.J. Gish Chiefland’s Taylor Brown (6) pitched a complete game 7-3 win over Williston in a Rural District 7 semifinal.

“It was great,” said Meeks, who hit a grand slam in a 12-1 win against No. 6 seed Bronson in the district quarterfinals on Monday night. “I think it really set the tone for the game. It was an up-and-away fastball, I was sitting on it. It’s the best feeling ever. Everybody knows that.”

In a 7-6 loss in eight innings at Williston on March 28, the host Red Devils built an early 6-0 lead but this time the Indians started fast.

“I think the quick start was great offensively,” Brock said. “We haven’t done that a whole lot. Their pitcher struggled a little bit in the beginning, maybe some nerves, but then Trey comes up with the big hit for us there to capitalize and give us some early runs. The quick start kind of went away, but it turned into a battle and that’s exactly what we thought we would be in is a dog fight and it was the last time we played them.”

Williston (13-11) answered with three runs in the bottom of the first inning off of Chiefland senior pitcher Taylor Brown (7 IP, 3R, 0 earned runs, 3 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts).

Brown hit senior Breeden Clemenzi to start the inning, followed by a bunt single by senior Elliot Davis, and Loock was hit by a pitch.

Williston's Elliot Davis (15) slides home to bring the Red Devils within 3-2 in the bottom of the first inning against Chiefland in a Rural District 7 semifinal. Photo by C.J. Gish
Photo by C.J. Gish Williston’s Elliot Davis (15) slides home to bring the Red Devils within 3-2 in the bottom of the first inning against Chiefland in a Rural District 7 semifinal.

A sacrifice fly by senior Waylon Geiger made it 3-1 and sophomore Braige Schneider and Daxton Weston each reached on a fielder’s choice and drove in a run to tie the game at 3-3.

“Resilient group,” said first-year Williston coach Denver Ripley. “Ten seniors that we’ll miss dearly…they’re trained to not quit, and they never quit. They kept playing the game hard.”

Chiefland (13-9) got what would prove to be the game-winning run in the third inning.

Meeks led off the inning with a double to left field and scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly to short left field by senior Garrett Byrd for a 4-3 lead.

Senior JR Hudson tripled to start the top of the fourth inning and a squeeze bunt by senior Colton Brown extended it to a 5-3 lead.

The Indians scored their final two runs on an error and an RBI single by senior Luke Watkins.

Brown settled down for Chiefland after the first inning and allowed just four base runners the rest of the way.

“When he’s on, he’s on,” Brock said. “And he’s been on pretty much I’d say 90% of the year…I had complete trust in him, and I didn’t want to pull him too early and let him ease into it and see how he felt.”

Williston, which was ranked 10th in the state in the Rural classification and third in Region 4, will find out in a few days if they make the regional tournament as an at-large.

Meanwhile, the Indians are starting to peak at the right time.

Williston's Maverick Jones (26) tags Chiefland's Colton Brown (22) out at second base in the top of the second inning of the Rural District 7 semifinal. Photo by C.J. Gish
Photo by C.J. Gish Williston’s Maverick Jones (26) tags Chiefland’s Colton Brown (22) out at second base in the top of the second inning of the Rural District 7 semifinal.

The Indians, who lost to Newberry, 7-6, in last year’s 1A-District 7 championship game, have won five games in a row.

Chiefland will try and keep the momentum going against the Tigers, who are ranked No. 3 in the state in the Rural classification.

“We’re floating on Cloud 9,” Meeks said. “Just the family atmosphere that we have here. You just can’t count us out. We’re always going to fight hard and play seven innings of hardnosed baseball…you can’t deny it, they’re (Trenton) a great baseball team but we’re a great baseball team too. We’re going to fight and we’re not going to lay down.”

Thursday’s championship game will be broadcast online (audio only) at Mainstreet Daily News beginning at 6:45 p.m. with Marty Pallman (Play-by-play) and Hank Rone (Color) calling the game.

FHSAA Baseball District Tournament – scores & championship matchups

(Teams in the Mainstreet coverage area in bold)

Dates & times are subject to change

Class Rural-District 6 at Union County (Lake Butler)

Quarterfinals – Monday, April 14

5 Hilliard 12, 4 Fort White 5

3 Branford 15, 6 Hawthorne 0 (4)

Semifinals – Tuesday, April 15

1 Lafayette (Mayo) 10, 5 Hilliard 0 (5)

3 Branford 4, 2 Union County (Lake Butler) 2

Championship – Thursday, April 17

1 Lafayette (Mayo) vs. 3 Branford, 7 p.m.

Class Rural-District 7 at Higher Seeds

Quarterfinals – Monday, April 14

5 Dixie County (Cross City) 5, 4 Bell 4 (11)

2 Williston 21, 7 Wildwood 0 (4)

3 Chiefland 12, 6 Bronson 1

Semifinals – Tuesday, April 15

1 Trenton 19, 5 Dixie County (Cross City) 3 (4)

3 Chiefland 7, 2 Williston 3

Championship – Thursday, April 17

3 Chiefland at 1 Trenton, 7 p.m.

Class 1A-District 5 at Higher Seeds

Semifinals – Tuesday, April 15

1 St. Francis Catholic Academy 10, 4 Peniel Baptist Academy (Palatka) 0 (5)

2 Oak Hall 16, 3 Countryside Christian 3 (5)

Championship – Thursday, April 17

1 St. Francis Catholic Academy at 2 Oak Hall, 4 p.m. (St. Francis Catholic is the home team)

Class 2A-District 4 at Higher Seeds

Quarterfinals – Monday, April 14

4 Interlachen 8, 5 P.K. Yonge 7

3 Trinity Catholic (Ocala) 17, 6 Crescent City 0 (4)

Semifinals – Tuesday, April 15

1 Keystone Heights 13, 4 Interlachen 6

3 Trinity Catholic (Ocala) 13, 2 Newberry 3 (6)

Championship – Thursday, April 17

3 Trinity Catholic (Ocala) at 1 Keystone Heights, 7 p.m.

Class 3A-District 3 at Higher Seeds

Quarterfinals – Monday, April 14

4 Wolfson (Jacksonville) 13, 5 Stanton (Jacksonville) 3 (6)

Semifinals – Tuesday, April 15

1 Suwannee (Live Oak) 10, 4 Wolfson (Jacksonville) 0 (5)

3 Paxon (Jacksonville) 10, 2 Baldwin 5

Championship – Thursday, April 17

3 Paxon (Jacksonville) at 1 Suwannee (Live Oak), 7 p.m.

Class 3A-District 5 at Higher Seeds

Semifinals – Tuesday, April 15

1 Santa Fe (Alachua) 14, 4 Eastside 0 (5)

2 Palatka 17, 3 Bradford (Starke) 1 (4)

Championship – Thursday, April 17

2 Palatka at 1 Santa Fe (Alachua), 6 p.m.

Class 5A-District 3 at Higher Seeds

Semifinals – Monday, April 14

1 Columbia (Lake City) 1, 4 Fleming Island (Orange Park) 0

Semifinals – Tuesday, April 15

2 Ridgeview (Orange Park) 9, 3 Middleburg 5 

Championship – Thursday, April 17

2 Ridgeview (Orange Park) at 1 Columbia (Lake City), 6 p.m.

Class 5A-District 5 at Higher Seeds

Quarterfinals – Monday, April 14

5 Matanzas (Palm Coast) 5, 4 Gainesville 3

Class 6A-District 2 at Higher Seeds

Quarterfinals – Monday, April 14

4 Forest (Ocala) 5, 5 Oakleaf (Orange Park) 4

Semifinals – Tuesday, April 15

1 Buchholz 3, 4 Forest (Ocala) 2

2 Tocoi Creek (St. Augustine) 3, 3 Bartram Trail (St. Johns) 1

Championship – Thursday, April 17

2 Tocoi Creek (St. Augustine) at 1 Buchholz, 7 p.m.

Chiefland coach Chad Brock sends Jolan Doty home after a throw to third base gets past Williston's Maverick Jones (26) and Blake Martin (14) in the top of the sixth inning. Photo by C.J. Gish
Photo by C.J. Gish Chiefland coach Chad Brock sends Jolan Doty home after a throw to third base gets past Williston’s Maverick Jones (26) and Blake Martin (14) in the top of the sixth inning.
Chiefland's JR Hudson (3) celebrates after hitting a triple in the top of the fourth inning against Williston in the Rural District 7 semifinal. Photo by C.J. Gish
Photo by C.J. Gish Chiefland’s JR Hudson (3) celebrates after hitting a triple in the top of the fourth inning against Williston in the Rural District 7 semifinal.
Chiefland's Osten Jones (10) gets thrown out on a fifth-inning bunt to Williston first baseman Waylon Geiger (1) in the Rural District 7 semifinal. Photo by C.J. Gish
Photo by C.J. Gish Chiefland’s Osten Jones (10) gets thrown out on a fifth-inning bunt to Williston first baseman Waylon Geiger (1) in the Rural District 7 semifinal.
Williston's Breeden Clemenzi (2) dives back to first base ahead of a throw to Chiefland's Luke Watkins (8) in the Rural District 7 semifinal. Photo by C.J. Gish
Photo by C.J. Gish Williston’s Breeden Clemenzi (2) dives back to first base ahead of a throw to Chiefland’s Luke Watkins (8) in the Rural District 7 semifinal.

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