North Marion blanks Baker County to reach state Final Four

CITRA - The talented seniors on the North Marion baseball team hadn't won a district title until this year. Now, the Colts' upperclassmen and their teammates can add the FHSAA Class 4A-Region 1 championship to their list of accomplishments after beating Glen St. Mary Baker County by a score of 6-0 on Wednesday night.

North Marion senior hurler Wyatt Campbell paced the victory by tossing a complete-game two-hitter and he belted a three-run double to help the Colts improve to 20-8 on the season.

North Marion, which is peaking at the right time of the season, won its sixth game in a row and will compete in the FHSAA Class 4A Final Four next week in Fort Myers. This is the first time the Colts have reached the Final Four since 2016.

"Have a game, Wyatt Campbell," said North Marion head coach Dale Hall. "The last four weeks he's just been the best he could possibly be on the mound for us, first and foremost. He did that again tonight, and he came through with a big, two-out hit in a clutch situation to break the game open."

Glen St. Mary Baker County finished the season at 15-16.

Baker County had no success against the hard-throwing Campbell, who struck out five and kept the Wildcats off-balance all night.

North Marion, which had six hits, broke through in the bottom of the third inning against Baker County right-hander Easton Stevens as Donny Salguero walked, stole second base and scored on back-to-back wild pitches.

Stevens struck out the next two batters, but senior Deric Fabian blasted a home run over the left-field fence against a strong wind to give the Colts a 2-0 lead.

"I was looking dead fastball after two curveballs and I didn't miss it," said Fabian, who made several sparkling defensive plays at shortstop, and is committed to the University of Florida. "I had good batting practice today so I was confident going into the game and I knew it was going to happen."

The two-run cushion was more than enough for Campbell, who gave up a single in the second inning, and a walk and a single in the fifth inning. He escaped the two-on, two-out jam in the fifth inning by striking out Brady Chauncey to end the threat. 

North Marion erupted in the bottom of the frame as Eli Garcia stroked a two-out single, Fabian was intentionally walked and senior designated hitter Jacob Walton drew a base-on-balls to load the bases.

Campbell stepped up and drilled a double to right-centerfield to clear the bases. Cooper Jones capped the explosion with an RBI single to put the Colts on top by a score of 6-0.

Campbell, who is committed to Lipscomb University in Nashville, struck out three of the last six batters he faced to seal the win and the regional championship for the Colts.

"It's unbelievable and I don't even know what to think right now," Campbell said. "I was just trying to put the ball in play and it's so awesome to win the regional title. We hadn't won a district championship until this year and now we're going to state."

North Marion will enjoy the victory and then prepare to play in a Class 4A state semifinal on Monday against Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) which defeated Bishop Moore by a score of 6-1.

"We're going to enjoy this win and I probably won't sleep much tonight," coach Hall said. "I'm so proud of our guys and I'm happy for our program and our community. I couldn't be more happy for this group of seniors because they are an unbelievable group of guys who have worked their tails off for us. We'll get some practice in and we're looking forward to going to Fort Myers and continuing to play team baseball."