Chipola rallies for big win over PJC

By Dustin Kent

Published: March 20, 2008

The Chipola Indians rallied from a 4-0 deficit to pick up a key Panhandle Conference victory Wednesday in Pensacola, beating the PJC Pirates 17-5.

The win allowed the Indians to avoid a 1-3 start in league play, having lost their last two games after beating TCC in their conference opener.

Adam Duvall hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning to put the Indians up for good at 5-4 and Chipola posted four more runs in the eighth inning and eight more in the ninth to run away with the victory.

Former Marianna Bulldogs pitcher J.B. Johnson came on in relief and picked up his first collegiate victory, coming in with two outs in the fifth and registering four outs with no hits or runs.

PJC starter Blaine Howell kept the Indians at bay for the first four innings, but Chipola’s hitters finally started to make some headway in the fifth.

Jordan Lucas led off the inning with a double, later coming around to score Chipola’s first run of the game.

After the Indians loaded the bases on Howell, PJC went to the bullpen and a wild pitch to the next Chipola hitter resulted in a run that made it 4-2.

After Duvall’s homerun, the Indians never looked back.

“We did a little bit better job offensively after the fourth inning,” Chipola coach Jeff Johnson said. “We got the big hit, then the guys played well the rest of the way.

“It was a big win for us.”

That it was.

Despite the fact that Chipola is just four games into a 20-game conference schedule, the difference between 1-3 and 2-2 can be huge when dealing with the psychology of a team.

“It was a big game if we were planning on winning the conference,” Johnson said. “I didn’t want to put too much pressure on us, but we could’ve gone down three games early in the year and now we’re just one out (of first place), so that’s big.”

The Indians next play Friday at 5 p.m. against Gulf Coast at Chipola Field.

Saturday’s game with the Commodores will be in Panama City at 1 p.m.

Johnson said he hoped his team’s outburst Wednesday was a sign of things to come.

“I hope start playing better. I think (Wednesday’s win) got us going in right direction, so I hope it got a little confidence in us,” the coach said. “We’ve just got to try to get it going this weekend against Gulf Coast and try to get on a roll.”