SAND HILLS — On paper, Wednesday night’s region final between Bozeman and Chipley set up as a titanic clash of 1A powers featuring two of the top three ranked teams in the state.
In reality, the Tigers made it look like a mismatch. Chipley jumped on Bucks ace Jeremy Todd for three first inning runs and rode a dominant pitching performance from sophomore Bryson Howard to an 8-3 victory.
The win earned the Tigers (25-1) their second-ever trip to the state semifinals in Fort Myers and their first since 2014.
“We’ve only been there once so to get to go back, it’s a great deal,” Chipley coach Andy Compton said. “(Bozeman) is a good team over there. They’ve got playoff experience and we don’t really have any playoff experience. We put two 10th graders on the mound tonight and they got it done.”
Howard struck out 11 batters in 4 2/3 innings to get the win while allowing just one unearned run. Neal Adams came on with two outs in the fifth inning and closed it out, striking out seven batters of his own while allowing two earned runs.
Todd took the loss for Bozeman (24-5), giving up eight runs – four earned – on nine hits and four walks with seven strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. The junior came in as the more heralded pitcher with a 0.77 ERA for the season, but it was the sophomore who stole came in and stole the show.
“Bryson Howard on the mound started it off for us,” Compton said. “He was locked in and overpowered them. Breaking balls, fastballs, he located them, and at the plate we barreled balls up tonight. We were ready for the velocity. It’s the first time we’ve seen that and we had great at bats and hit it on the barrel.”
The Tigers took the early lead with a two-out rally in the first inning, loading the bases on a double by Adams, a single by Kelbee Woodham, and a hit by pitch of Parker Smelcer. Waylon Pitts then came up and smacked a bases clearing double to the gap in left field to make it 3-0.
Smelcer added to the lead with a solo home run in the third, with a misplayed fly ball by Adams to left field allowing two more runs to score in the fourth to make it 6-0.
The Bucks’ hitters had no such luck against Howard, who struck out half of the batters he faced. He used timely strikeouts to work his way out of multiple early jams, striking out Byron McLain and Peyton Gay to strand runners on the corners in the second inning, and then striking out Tyler Powell to leave the bases loaded in the third.
Howard said he even before the game he felt like it was going to be that kind of night.
“I was feeling good on all three pitches,” he said. “Before the game I had a little bullpen and I was throwing my changeup, my curveball, and the fastball all for strikes.”
The 18 strikeouts were easily a season high for the Bucks, who hadn’t struck out 10 or more times in a single game this season and had been fanned just seven times total in their last three games.
“I don’t really have an explanation for it,” Bozeman coach Jeff Patton said. “We were prepared and ready to go. We struck out probably more times tonight than we did in a month. I don’t quite have an answer for that other than their pitchers did a really good job and we didn’t make adjustments. I told the boys after the game that with as much as we struck out tonight it’s amazing that we scored three times.
“We had some chances, but it was probably too little too late. We had some guys on but couldn’t get them in. It was just Chipley’s night.”
Anthony Street led Bozeman with three hits and a run, with Powell adding two hits and an RBI. Banks Byers also had a hit and an RBI. Carson Shores and David Carley each had two hits and two RBI for Chipley, with Pitts driving in a team-high four runs. Smelcer added a hit, two runs, and an RBI.
Chipley will next play on May 19 against the winner of Thursday night’s game between Northview and Holmes County. Whatever happens in Fort Myers, just making it there is a pretty impressive achievement for a team that put just two seniors on the field Wednesday.
Even as well as the Tigers have played, Compton said he believes they have their best baseball still in front of them.
“I think we do,” he said. “We’re playing good right now, playing our best. Our philosophy is just to win the next one and we did that tonight. I’m just really proud of them.”
