After century-long wait, Columbia baseball set to continue historic run in FHSAA semifinal
It was on a spring day — May 18, 1923 — that Columbia made its first serious run at the Florida High School Athletic Association baseball tournament.
Columbia reached the final eight for the tournament at Rollins College. New Smyrna Beach had other ideas, taming the Tigers 7-5. The wait began, and dragged on and on and on...
For more than 98 years, Columbia baseball has been trying to get past that point again. In the 99th year, they finally cleared the hurdle.
Now, after a wait of nearly a century, the Tigers are playing final four baseball for the first time in the program's history, taking on Eau Gallie on Thursday in the FHSAA Class 5A semifinal at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.
Before the first pitch of 2022, Columbia head coach Chris Howard said he had a feeling these Tigers could be special. He credits their achievements this spring to togetherness and a never-say-die attitude.
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"They've become more of a team all around, more together," said Howard, in a phone interview from Lake City. "They play the game the right way as a team."
The record may say Columbia holds a record of 22-8, but nobody can say they got to Fort Myers the easy way.
The Tigers had to weather a wild roller coaster in Monday night's regional final against Tallahassee Lincoln. They surged to a 4-2 edge entering the seventh inning, watched Lincoln pile up four runs in the top of the frame to seize a two-run lead of their own, and then fought back to tie the score on a Brayden Thomas two-run single and win it on Ty Floyd's sacrifice fly.
"It's like going from as low as you can get to as high as you can get in a matter of minutes," Howard said.
After losing its season opener, Columbia racked up 10 victories in a row, then hit a bumpy patch in middle and late April with a 4-6 record.
Since then, though, they haven't stopped winning, whether that's meant blowouts (11-2 over St. Augustine in the district final), shootouts (9-8 over Ridgeview in 10 innings in the district semifinal), lockdown pitching performances (Truitt Todd's one-hitter over 6 2/3 against St. Augustine in regionals) or nail-biters like Monday against Lincoln.
The scary thing for opponents? While Columbia is set to graduate several key seniors, including Chandler Howard (.396, 11 doubles, 22 RBI, 1.075 OPS) and Todd (.272, seven doubles, 19 RBI; 1.84 ERA, 59 K in 53 1/3 innings), leaders like Thomas, Matt Dumas and sophomore pitcher Grant Bowers are set to return for 2023.
That latter list also includes Hayden Gustavson, committed to Florida State and a dynamic force whether throwing, catching or hitting pitches. The junior is batting .383 with 13 doubles, 27 RBI and a 1.110 OPS on the season, together with a 2.25 ERA and more than a strikeout per inning on the mound.
Yes, it took a century for Lake City to taste final four baseball. But Howard and his team are ready to make this year's journey well worth the wait.
"It's going to be really exciting, and we're excited, but we're hoping [the nerves] will all be out of the way before we get started," Howard said.
Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: High school baseball: Team spirit, drive fuel Lake City Columbia
