Raider Baseball Clinches Panhandle Conference Championship

PANAMA CITY, Fla. - The Northwest Florida Raider baseball team clinched the Panhandle Conference after sweeping Gulf Coast on Saturday in a double header matchup with the Commodores. In game 1, NWF was victorious 7-6 and game 2, the Raiders came out on top 6-3. Northwest Florida finishes the regular season 30-16-1, 15-9 in the Panhandle Conference.

Game 1

In the top of the 2nd inning, Kendrey Maduro put the Raiders on the board first with a solo HR to left field. However, the Commodores quickly answered with a grand slam in the bottom half of the inning to go up 4-1. The next inning, Gulf Coast hit another home run, this time a 2-run HR to go up 6-1. The Raiders chipped away at the lead in the final 3 innings, getting a run back in the top of the 5th with a single from Matt Gonzalez to make it 6-2. A double from Tyler Lejeune and a single from Blake Cavill made it a 6-4 ball game heading into the final frame. Paul Winland tied the ball game at 6 with a double to left field and later scored on a passed ball to put the Raiders up 7-6.

Jacob Sedun was stellar out of the bullpen, recording the final 10 outs of the ball game, allowing 0 hits and 1 walk. The Raiders compiled 13 hits in the game. 

Game 2

In game 2, Andres Natera's single to center field, scoring Cayden Gaskin put the Raiders on top followed by an error that put Tyler Lejeune on, bringing in Natera. The Commodores tied it up in the 4th inning at 2 with a sacrifice fly. 3 walks drawn by Gonzalez, Cade Sadler, and Zach Bale brought in Tyler Lejeune, who led the inning off with a single. Another passed ball brought in Gonzalez to put the Raiders up 4-2. Gavin Black hit a solo home run in the top of the 7th inning, putting the Raiders up 6-2 to clinch the Panhandle Conference title.

The pitching staff was a combined effort for the Raiders as Kyson Witherspoon started the day off with 3 strikeouts in only 1 inning of work, followed by Malachi Witherspoon, who logged 2 innings and struck out 4. Trenton Burnett pitched the 4th inning, allowing 2 hits and striking out 2 and Blaise Grove shut the door on the Commodores in the final 3 innings, recording 5 strikeouts and only giving up 1 run. 

Northwest Florida will host the Suncoast Conference runner-up Polk State on May 5-7 in a best-of-3 series. Friday's game will start at 5:00 PM, followed by a 2:00 PM start on Saturday. If necessary, Sunday's game will begin at 1:00 PM. Polk State finished the season 32-21 and was 14-10 in the Suncoast Conference. The Eagles have a .299 team batting average, and have hit 28 home runs this season.