Walk-off winner again: George Gilson leads St. Johns Country Day into FHSAA baseball final
George Gilson is St. Johns Country Day's giant again.
For the second time in as many games, the St. Johns Country Day senior delivered a walk-off winner, carrying the Spartans past St. Petersburg Northside Christian 5-4 in Monday's Florida High School Athletic Association Class 2A baseball semifinal.
Stepping to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and a 4-3 deficit, Gilson blasted a double to the gap against reliever Merric Hunt to score Kyle Boylston and Kolt Myers, keeping the quest alive for the Spartans at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.
St. Johns advances to play at 11 a.m. Wednesday against the winner of the semifinal between Miami Christian and Orlando First Academy, seeking a first-ever FHSAA championship after losses in the 2021 and 2023 title games.
Gilson also hit the Spartans' deciding home run in last Tuesday's regional championship, capping a come-from-behind 8-6 win against Tallahassee North Florida Christian.
For a few minutes, it appeared that Northside Christian freshman Ashton Cox would end the day as the hero. He lined a two-out double in the top of the seventh inning, scoring Brian Morales and Chase Perkey to give the Mustangs (20-10) a 4-3 lead.
With two outs and no one aboard, St. Johns (24-6) looked nearly dead in the bottom of the seventh. But Kyle Boylston drilled a single through the left side of the infield and Kolt Myers drew a two-out walk, setting the stage for the latest highlight from Flagler College signee Gilson.
In an unusual game for the Spartans, ranked first in the state at Class 2A, they made five pitching changes and scored their first three runs on sacrifice flies by Seth Alford in the first, Myers in the third and Alford again with a go-ahead RBI in the sixth.
Perkey had given Northside Christian a short-lived lead with a two-run homer in the third against Spartans starter Jack Ensell.
A victory Wednesday would make St. Johns Country Day the first state baseball champion for Northeast Florida since 2017, when Bolles won in Class 5A and Nease won in Class 7A.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: St. Johns Country Day-Northside Christian: FHSAA baseball semifinal
