The high school baseball district tournament is finally here. On May 1, the Maclay Marauders headed down to Marianna, Florida to face the Florida High Seminoles. This was the first round of districts and by the end of the night the Marauders season came to an end. They went 10-16 on the season, and this was head coach Drew Sherrod’s last game coaching. The final score of the district game was 10-2 and the Seminoles are advancing into the second round of districts.
The Seminoles were the home team giving the Marauders first at bat. Eighth grader Chase Fuller scored the first run for the Marauders. When Maclay transitioned into the field, sophomore Zeke Podgorski pitched for Maclay. Podgorski punched out two Seminole hitters in the first inning and proceeded to remain hot on the mound for the next two innings. Florida High earned two runs in the first inning and came in the lead. However, sophomore George Grant scored the second run for the Marauders in the second inning and tied the game.
“Kolton Lawson,” Grant said. “He is our only senior and I am going to miss him next year.”
The Marauders quickly fell behind and by the fourth inning the Seminoles were up by eight runs. The Seminole defense did not let the baseball get far from them because they stopped the Marauders from scoring the rest of the game. By the fifth inning, Florida High was able to get two more runs across the plate without any response from the Marauders.
“I felt like I let my team down,” Podgorski said. “I pitched very bad and I did not really help out at the plate.”
The seventh inning came and went with no runs on either team, thus handing the Seminoles a ticket to the district semi final game against Pensacola Catholic.
“I will miss the bus rides with the team and the locker room before games,” junior Hudson Leger said.
