It would make for a great match-up on the football field.
Instead, Trenton and Madison County will play on the diamond to decide a state championship.
The top-ranked Tigers defeated Sneads, 10-0 in six innings, in the FHSAA Class 1A state semifinals at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.
Trenton (26-1) scored seven runs in the fourth inning, aided by three Pirates’ errors, and cruised to its 19th consecutive victory.
Freshman Wyatt Langford drove in three runs and senior Trent Simmons, a Hillsborough Community College signee, pitched a complete game 2-hitter with six strikeouts.
Junior Chase Malloy and junior Daniel Plank each had two hits, while 8th-grader Jacob Guthrie added 2 RBI for Trenton, which is seeking its second state baseball title in five years.
In the other semifinal, Madison County spent all afternoon playing catch-up.
Down 1-0 in the bottom of the third, junior Drew Herring reached on an error. He would later score on senior Kris Allen’s ground out to short to tie the game.
Santa Rosa Beach South Walton (23-7) reclaimed the lead, 3-1, in the top of the fourth with two runs.
However, the Cowboys (19-10), winners of nine in a row, rallied again.
Junior Jae Mitchell, who finished 3-for-3, led off the bottom of the fourth with a double and then scored on a single to left by Herring. Junior Drew Arnett, who had been hit by a pitch, scored on a sacrifice fly by Allen to tie the game.
Neither team scored in the fifth and sixth innings.
With the score tied 3-3 entering the bottom of the seventh, junior catcher Dustin Bass hit a fly ball to left center field to lead off the inning.
However, the outfielders collided, and neither player made the catch. Bass went all the way to third on the play.
The next batter, sophomore Dilan Thompson, hit a bloop single to right field to score courtesy runner Ken’auntre Adams with the game-winning run.
The Class 1A state championship game is on Thursday at 4:35 p.m. This will be the first meeting between the two teams this season.
