It was a rematch of last year’s district championship tilt between Mayo and Chiefland. With the thunderstorms moving in, everybody was hoping the game would end quickly. It did not. The game went nine innings with Chiefland allowing Mayo just one hit, while the Hornets ace, Michael Kelly had only allowed two.

Despite only getting one hit in the game by Ty Fillyaw in the fourth inning with a two-out single, Mayo cashed in on the opportunity when it made itself available. In the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, Kelly and Aaron Gresham were able to draw back-to-back walks with Fillyaw on deck. Both runners were able to advance after a passed ball. Fillyaw delivered a hard hit ball to third base which was not handled cleanly resulting in Kelly crossing homeplate for the game winning run.

The difference in this game was the defense. The Hornets have played error free ball the past four games only allowing one unearned run in that span. There were no errors in this game also, while Kelly was outstanding on the mound striking out 17 batters. He would strike out the side in the first, fifth and seventh innings. He finished the game only allowing two hits, with one walk and hit a batter. On both occasions, Kelly and the first baseman Fillyaw were able to wipe the bases clean with two nice pickoffs of the runners.

Kelly received two defensive gems from second baseman Cody Page in the second and fourth innings taking away sure hits. Page made both throws from his knees to first after having to hit the deck to stop both grounders.

Chiefland only allowed one hit, but two of the three walks, and one of the two errors occurred in the final inning to help keep Mayo undefeated in district play with a huge win over a tough Indians team.

Mayo dropped their next encounter in Fort White by a score of 11-1. Mayo would again play errorless baseball, but 10 Indian hits produced 11 runs, with six in the bottom of the fifth to bring a close to the contest. Fort White blasted two doubles and two triples to empty the bases of runners.

The good news in this game was the fact that there was seven Mayo hits with doubles by Fillyaw and Kris and Kyle Keen. Fillyaw went 2-2 in the contest.

The Hornets will take on two tough district opponents this week at the home field with Bronson and Trenton coming to town tonight and tomorrow night with hopes of remaining unbeaten in district competition.