Chiefland Ends Strong Season As State Runner-Up

Zach Barker went the distance for Chiefland, striking out four in seven innings.

Behind a complete-game shutout from starter Zach Yeager Lafayette won 2-0 over Chiefland in the Class 1A state championship Thursday night at jetBlue Park in Fort Myers. The right-hander worked efficiently to stymie the Indians’ lineup. Yeager scattered three hits and four walks and struck out a pair, including a strikeout against the final batter that ended the night and triggered the celebration.

“We always look to the state tournament, certainly, but I did not see this coming,” Lafayette manager Tim Hanson said. “To watch the kids at the end of the game is priceless. You’ll never be able to replace that. The community really traveled down too. It’s about a five hour drive to come here but the people decided to come out and watch.”

The Chiefland fans that made the journey were rewarded with an early lead that helped fuel the excitement. In the bottom of the second inning Calb Land reached on an infield single, Bryson Bracewell dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move him to second and Coley Hingson pushed Land to third after getting the ball on the ground to the right side for a 4-3 groundout. Kayne Hurst then delivered a single up the middle to send Land the final 90 feet home for a 1-0 lead.

Backed with a lead, Yeager excelled at getting fly balls that were easily handled by his defense. Chiefland (24-5) had 14 flyouts and struggled to get any offense going. The defense also proved up to the task in committing just one error, and third baseman Mason Herring snared a hard liner to rob Trevor Castell of a hit in the sixth.

Casey Lawson walked in the sixth.

The Indians (24-5) struggled for hits and with runners in scoring position. Despite allowing eight base runners in all, Yeager only saw three of them get into scoring position and none scored.

Their best scoring chance came when they recorded two of their three hits in the top of the second, when Dalton Hedge singled to center and Dale Stone followed with a knock to right. Yeager buckled down to record the final two outs and leave both runners stranded.

The Hornets added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Byrd walked and was replaced by pinch-runner Kerby Hanson. Kerby stole second base and then raced around and scored thanks to an RBI single up the middle from Mason Herring.

Down to their final swings the Indians still struggled to get the ball on the ground, as Yeager induced two consecutive flyouts to start the frame and bring the final out to the plate. Chase Molloy singled to center field to keep Chiefland alive, before Yeager recorded a strikeout to close things out.

Left-hander Zach Barker delivered an impressive performance to keep Chiefland in the contest. The southpaw went the full seven innings, scattering fives hits and two walks while striking out four.

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