Add one more candidate to the game-of-the-year list for Northeast Florida high school softball.
One swing of the bat from Nasia Green in the sixth inning cleared the fence for a grand slam and preserved the perfect record for Baker County, rallying 6-4 past Middleburg on April 14.
Green, a senior, had only one previous varsity home run on record for the Wildcats. But when consecutive walks to Baleigh Shields and Chloe Johnson loaded the bases with a 4-2 deficit, Green belted a homer into the Glen St. Mary night and over the left field fence.
Middleburg had moved in front earlier in the inning on a long ball from Madisyn Strickland, who leads Northeast Florida and ranks in a tie for sixth statewide with eight homers.
The Florida High School Athletic Association now ranks Baker County No. 8 in Florida, with the regular season set to end on April 22. West Palm Beach Berean Christian lost its first game on April 14, leaving the Wildcats as the Sunshine State’s last unbeaten team.
Long ball feast for Spartans’ Harris
Speaking of home runs…
St. Johns Country Day senior Brayden Harris, already Florida’s strikeout king from 2025 and a strong candidate to repeat the feat in 2026, achieved a new career milestone on April 14 by slugging three home runs against Christ’s Church in District 4-1A baseball.
Harris, committed to Florida State, opened with a leadoff home run in the first inning and added further blasts in the fourth and fifth. St. Johns Country Day’s Preston Cole and Hunter Rodgers also cleared the fence in the 13-3 St. Johns victory.
As in 2025, Harris ranks among the state’s noted two-way threats. He’s batting .362 with a .934 OPS, and on the mound, he holds a 6-2 record, a 1.37 ERA, a 0.941 WHIP and 96 strikeouts.
Only Lynn Haven Mosley’s Ryan Harless (107) and Sandalwood’s Bane Barker (101), who struck out 14 on April 14 in the District 1-7A tournament against Flagler Palm Coast, have recorded more punch-outs in Florida this year.
Sharks flag football perfect for season
That’s perfection.
With a 27-6 victory over Tocoi Creek on April 13, Ponte Vedra confirmed a perfect regular season in flag football, the last unbeaten team standing on the First Coast after both Mandarin (against Paxon) and Clay (against Tallahassee Chiles) went down during the past week.
Not bad at all for a program that only got off the ground at varsity level in 2024, when the Sharks found instant success with a 14-3 record.
Ponte Vedra this year is piling on the points (444 in 14 games) for an average of more than 31 per game with a prolific passing attack. Quarterback Izzy Murray (306 of 403, 3,476 yards, 52 TD, 10 INT) and receivers Peyton Gruver (102 catches, 1,326 yards, 16 TD) and Julia Conroy (80 catches, 1055 yards, 18 TD) all rank among Florida’s statistical leaders.
On defense, meanwhile, no team has scored double figures against Ponte Vedra all year, while Conroy has snatched 14 interceptions and Maddy McDermott leads the pass rush with 13 sacks.
With district tournaments set to begin April 20, the Sharks stand second in Class 3A behind only five-time champion Loxahatchee Seminole Ridge, with a real shot to reach the state final four from May 15-16 at Tampa’s AdventHealth Training Center. No Northeast Florida school has ever won an FHSAA flag football championship.
Episcopal baseball wins bubble battle
Going by the Florida High School Athletic Association rankings, Jacksonville’s five District 3-2A baseball teams rank fourth (Trinity Christian), 10th (Bishop Snyder), 38th (Bolles), 67th (Providence) and 81st (Episcopal) statewide.
Could one of them miss out on a postseason that will number 240 teams from Class 7A to Rural?
That’s the big question that will mean some nervous moments for area schools. If Pensacola Catholic beats Bozeman in an expected District 1-2A Panhandle final on April 17, one of the Jacksonville super-district’s teams may wind up on the outside looking in.
That looked like Episcopal for a while, until the Eagles took a big step toward its playoff future in the district opening round on April 14 by striking for six runs in the seventh inning and overcoming Providence 9-5.
Frustrated for most of the night after Gehrig Severidt’s leadoff home run, stranding nine runners in the first four innings, Episcopal turned the game upside down late. Two bases-loaded walks tied the score, and Cole Davidson followed with a bases-clearing double for an 8-5 edge.
District 3-2A thus far has more than lived up to its bruising reputation. The five schools have combined for an 84-39 record and a .683 winning percentage, and three have played scheduled ranked in Florida’s top 20.
Stallions take District 4-1A track
The first FHSAA district track meet is in the books, with Providence as the leader of the pack. The host Stallions won District 4-1A with 201 points on the boys side and 229 1/2 for the girls, with Trinity Christian in second.
Sam Loftin doubled up in the boys 800 (1:55.63) and 1,600 (4:26.41) for the Stallions, while other top performances included Grayson Jackson (151 feet, 11 inches in the boys discus), Olivia Rogina (15.73 in the girls 100 hurdles and 1:05.52 in the 400 hurdles) and Caroline Collins (a personal-best 33-1 in the girls shot put and 102 feet in the discus).
Bishop Snyder also celebrated a pair of triple winners with Kalia Bing (girls 100, 200 and long jump) and Daniel Hoff (boys 100, 200 and 400).
Track districts continue across the area through the next week, two steps away from the FHSAA championships at the University of North Florida from May 6-9.
Weightlifting rolls toward regionals
High school boys weightlifting postseason keeps rolling on across the First Coast. Some of the highlights from the district competitions:
The weightlifting postseason now pauses for a week until regionals begin on April 22.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Boom! Nasia Green delivers home run drama for Baker County softball
Reporting by Clayton Freeman, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
