NWF State to Play in Wild Card Showdown

By SETH STRINGER

NICEVILLE — NWF State baseball's title defense is still alive.

Well, title defenses (plural) to be more specific, the Region 8 crown and national championship still set to run through the Raiders.

Sunday's 7-6 win over Tallahassee ensured that fate at least for now, the Raiders shoring up the third spot in the Panhandle Conference and playing their way into the Region 8 tournament Wild Card game set for May 2 against a team yet to be determined.

Shawn Feltner, who had three hits, went yard alongside Handsome Monica and Cristian Rivera as the trio drove in a pair of runs each. In relief of Will Luft, Corderias Dorsey earned the win with four strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings of one-run ball after the game-tying run was called out at the plate from a tag by Monica with Taylor Lane's relay throw being on the mark.  

The Raiders finished the conference slate 8-12 alongside Tallahassee behind champion Chipola and runner-up Gulf Coast State. A 3-2 record against the Eagles punched the Raiders' postseason ticket.

Once there, NWF State skipper Doug Martin understands anything can happen.

The Raiders proved that last year when they entered the state showcase in Lakeland as overwhelming underdogs, only to reel off five straight wins.

The same underdog status followed them to nationals in Grand Junction, Colo., where they went 5-1 en route to the program's first national title.

The Raiders will have a final postseason warmup on Tuesday at Alabama Southern.