Santa Fe College baseball is the best in state for the first time since 1985. Wednesday, in Winter Haven, the Saints beat two-time defending state champ Chipola to win the 2009 FCCAA State championship

The win was not an easy one, as SFC (32-20) had to come back from a three run deficit late in the game. Ryan Mathews hit a key two run homerun to get the Saints on the board in the sixth inning and then had the go ahead RBI in the eighth on a sacrifice fly.

After a 13 hour rain delay that lasted through the night, play resumed this morning at 11:00am with the Saints down 1-0 and without a hit through three innings.

Gary Merians took the hill for SFC and turned in three solid innings, giving up only two unearned runs in the fourth. The Saints bullpen was the real difference in the game as Daryl Barnes, Daley Cox and Andy Mee (3-4) combined for three shutout innings.

Down 3-0, Mathews came through in the sixth with a two out, two run homer, scoring Andy Mee from first to cut the lead to 3-2.

After a scoreless top of the eighth for the two time defending State Champion Chipola Indians, SFC would take advantage of a tired CC pitching staff and score three runs to take the lead.

For his efforts during the week, Mid Florida conference player of the year Andy Mee was named the tournament’s “Most Outstanding Player”, and was named to the All-Tournament team as a pitcher and designated hitter. Ryan Mathews and Keon Broxton were named to the All-Tournament Team as outfielders, Trace Venegas was named as an infielder and Brett Bozeman as a catcher.

Coach Johnny Wiggs was also honored after the game as the FCCAA State Coach of the Year for the first time in his career.

The Saints will travel to Grand Junction, Colorado on May 23-30 for the NJCAA World Series, where the ten best teams in the country will compete to become the 2009 National Champions. The Saints last went to Grand Junction under former Head Coach and current assistant Harry Tholen in 1985.