High School Baseball District Roundup: Fletcher cruises, Episcopal stuns Trinity
Fletcher made it look easy on Friday night, pounding Oakleaf 17-4 in a mercy-rule shortened six innings to win the District 2-8A baseball title.
Ryan Ayrey and Cherokee Nichols both went 4 for 5 and combined to drive in four runs, Evan Cerny added three hits and drove in four and the Senators (21-6) pounded on 17 hits and never trailed. Aidan Fernandez and Sandon Witt both added two-hit games for Fletcher. The Senators will host Tallahassee Chiles in Tuesday’s regional quarterfinal. Oakleaf (19-7) will travel to face Lincoln.
It was a breather of a win for Fletcher after an 8-7 win in eight innings over Fleming Island in the district semis. Logan Roberts hit a bases loaded triple in the bottom of the eighth to win that game.
District 3-5A: Hunter Barco homered, Austin Knight drove in three runs and Bolles beat Baker County 7-1 to win the district championship on Friday night. The Bulldogs (16-10) scored the game’s final seven runs, including five in the bottom of the fifth inning to pull away from the Wildcats (13-14), who were hoping to notch their second major upset of the week. Baker County beat Suwannee, the state’s No. 2-ranked team, in the semifinals on Tuesday. Nathan Skinner fired a complete game with four strikeouts for Bolles.
District 4-5A: Bishop Kenny completed its wire-to-wire run in District 4-5A with a walk-off, 4-3 win over Fernandina Beach on Friday night. Kenny went 10-0 in district play in the regular season and knocked off West Nassau and the Pirates in the tournament. The Crusaders (24-3), ranked No. 1 in Class 5A, will open the state playoffs at home on Tuesday against Baker County. Ridge Abinsay homered for Kenny and Connor Gonzalez earned the win. Fernandina Beach (20-7) will travel to face Bolles.
District 5-5A: Keystone Heights won the district championship with an 8-1 victory over Gainesville P.K. Yonge on Friday night. The Indians (21-6) will host the Villages in Tuesday’s playoff opener.
District 1-4A: Episcopal stunned Trinity Christian 5-3 in nine innings of the district semifinals, getting RBI singles from Jack Rains and Trey Spratling-Williams to end the Conquerors season. Austin Martin hit a two-run homer for Trinity in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie things at 3-all and send the game into extra innings. … Providence used a combined two-hitter from Max Holmes and Patrick Crawley to blank Bishop Snyder 7-0. Carson Beck homered and Tyler Callihan and Nathan Hickey had two hits apiece for Providence. The Stallions (21-5) and Eagles (14-13) will play at noon Saturday at Providence for the district title.
District 2-3A: University Christian broke things open in the bottom of the sixth inning and knocked off St. Johns Country Day 11-6 to win the district title on Friday. The game was delayed late Thursday in the fifth inning by rain, and resumed Friday afternoon with the Christians (18-8) trailing the Spartans (16-10) 6-5. Gage Dixon had an RBI single to tie things at 6-all and Conner Johnson helped UC take the lead on a fielder’s choice. The Christians pushed three insurance runs across with two outs to ice it.
District 2-2A: Christ’s Church won its fourth consecutive district championship with a run-rule, 18-4 rout of Eagle’s View on Friday. Trey Higginbotham homered twice and drove in five runs for the Eagles (19-5), Caleb Davis knocked in four and Josph Mansour added three RBI in a game that was blown open with a seven-run second inning. Damion Koch had two hits for Eagle’s View (12-14).
District baseball scoreboard
District 1-9A
At Mandarin
Schedule: Thursday, championship, Sandalwood 5, Mandarin 2
District 2-8A
At Atlantic Coast
Schedule: Friday, championship, Fletcher 17, Oakleaf 4
District 3-7A
At Columbia
Schedule: Wednesday, championship, Columbia 7, Vanguard 2
District 4-7A
At Nease
Schedule: Wednesday, championship, Nease 10, St. Augustine 3
District 3-6A
At Paxon
Schedule: Thursday, championship, Stanton 8, Paxon 4
District 4-6A
At Ponte Vedra
Schedule: Thursday, championship, Ponte Vedra 3, Clay 2 (10 innings)
District 3-5A
At Bolles
Schedule: Friday, championship, Bolles 7, Baker County 1
District 4-5A
At Bishop Kenny
Schedule: Friday, championship, BK 4, Fernandina Beach 3
District 5-5A
At Santa Fe
Schedule: Friday, championship, Keystone Heights 8, P.K. Yonge 1
District 1-4A
At Providence
Schedule: Friday, Episcopal 5, Trinity Christian 3 (9 innings); Providence 7, Snyder 0; Saturday, championship, Episcopal vs. Providence, noon
District 2-3A
At St. Joseph
Schedule: Friday, championship, UC 11, St. Johns CD 6
District 2-2A
At Christ’s Church
Schedule: Friday, championship, Christ’s Church 18, Eagle’s View 4
District 6-1A
At Fort White
Schedule: Thursday, championship, Williston 5, Union County 0