Prep baseball: Fort Meade falls to Dixie County in regional semifinal

FORT MEADE — Fort Meade baseball won six district titles in a row advancing to the Class 1A, Region 4 quarterfinals last Thursday. But in the semifinals, there was just too much good pitching from Dixie County on Tuesday at Andrew McCutchen Field.

Forte Meade went down 7-0 in the semifinal game largely due to all-county pitchers Carson St. Laurent and Kolton Hunt. The only player on the Miners to produce offensively was John Barnett, who posted a single and a double.

St. Laurent struck out seven, walked one and allowed just one hit in five innings innings, while Hunt struck out three, walked none and allowed one hit in two innings

Fort Meade coach Jon Spradlin said the pitching and offense on the Dixie County side was impeccable.

“To be honest you just got to tip their hat. They were just the better team than us tonight,” Spradlin said. “I think he (Hunt) located some pitches. He located really well. And they did a really good job of grinding out at-bats. They didn’t give any at-bats away. It’s just one of those things you tip your hat. The guy did a great job. They got a good club. It’s always in this 1A thing. It’s so hard to tell because we never see them. They’re up in the Gainesville area. They never see us. It’s one of those things you just never know.”

Overall, Dixie County racked up 13 hits. Hunt had the first big hit of the game. His two-out double to left field drove in the first two runs of the game in the top of the third. Later in the inning, St. Laurent capped the big inning with an RBI single that gave Dixie County a 5-0 lead.

Dixie County (12-9) scored two more runs in the game with the final run coming on a Braxton Bernier sacrifice bunt.

”St. Laurent and Hunt have been workhorses all year long," Bears coach Shannon Smith said. "They throw a lot of strikes, multiple pitches, they locate well, but most importantly, they battle. We really work hard on two-out hits, especially scoring two-out runs. We practice that mental toughness. The Miners are a great team. They’re young. Coach Spradlin is going to have them back in the hunt for the next couple of years. They battled. They’re gritty.”

For the Miners this year, the program improved from 9-17 last year to 12-13.

“It’s been a good season, and these kids have been through a lot this year," Spradlin said. "We’ve had some situations where we’ve lost some guys and it’s been a hard season. But they battled. We had what I thought was a pretty good year. We went into the county tournament (and) had to play Winter Haven and George Jenkins. But I’m proud of them and what we accomplished. But for some reason six years in a row, this is the game we can’t get through. Hopefully next year we get a little more grittier and are able to find a way to do it.”