BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Tripp Davis, a 2022 Union County High School graduate, batted .416 in four games and drove in five runs to help the St. Johns River State College baseball team win its second straight Florida College System Activities Association Division II/National Junior College Athletic Association Region 8 state championship.
The Vikings will host the South District championship Friday, May 10, at 6 p.m. and Saturday, May 11, at 2 p.m. If a game three is necessary, it will be Sunday, May 12, at 1 p.m.
Davis scored two runs in St. Johns’ first game of the Region 8 tournament, a 12-2 win over Palm Beach State on May 2. In the Vikings’ next game, a 7-1 win over South Florida State on May 3, Davis went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI, which occurred on a sacrifice fly in a five-run third inning that put the Vikings ahead 5-0.
St. Johns was then defeated 7-4 by South Florida State on May 4. Davis went 2 for 3 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI. The Vikings were trailing 2-0 when Davis hit a run-scoring double in the second. He later scored on a single to even it up at 2-2.
Davis drove in three runs in an 11-8 win over South Florida State to wrap up the championship on May 5. He drove in a run on a sacrifice fly that left his team trailing 3-2 in the third.
The Vikings led 9-5 when Davis hit a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh.
It wasn’t the first good series Davis had against South Florida State this year. In a regular-season series (April 19-20) at Avon Park, he batted 6 for 11 with three RBI and a home run in three games. Davis went 4 for 5 with an RBI in the series finale, a 12-8 win.
For the season, Davis is batting a team-high .379. He’s second in on-base percentage (.487) and fourth in RBI (22) and slugging percentage (.526).
