The Northview High School Chiefs baseball team advanced to the program’s first ever trip to the state tournament Friday night.

Northview (19-2) earned an 8-4 win at Bozeman in Panama City, Fla., and will now play Blountstown on Wednesday. The game will be played at JetBlue Park, in Fort Myers, Fla.

Friday, Northview jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning over Bozeman, but the Bucks responded with three runs in the bottom of the first.

The Chiefs quickly answered with two runs in the top of the second, and never trailed the rest of the game.
Aaron McDonald started the game for Northview, before he was relieved by Brett Weeks. Weeks completed the game, allowing one run on four hits.

The Chiefs finished with 12 hits, and took advantage of five errors, five walks and four hit batters by the Bozeman pitching staff.

McDonald and Thomas Moore each had three hits and an RBI for Northview. Weeks had two hits and an RBI.

The Chiefs added two runs in the top of the fourth to increase their lead to 6-3. Bozeman scored in the bottom of the fifth, but Northview added two more runs in the top of the seventh.

The Bucks had runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Weeks got the final two outs to close out the victory.