Through four hours and 35 minutes of baseball, through 13 innings, through descending smoke from wildfires and rising water from sprinklers, Brady Harris had waited for one moment.
“I knew when it left the bat, it had a good chance,” Harris said. “And it was pure joy after that.”
Jacksonville has its high school baseball game of the year, and Trinity Christian (20-7) has its Florida High School Athletic Association District 3-2A championship, holding off Bishop Snyder in an 11-10, 13-inning epic on April 18.
When Florida-signed senior center fielder Harris smacked a hard fly to left, JaRod Flowers dashed home to beat the throw of the Cardinals’ Cody Boshell for the winning run off the sac fly in the bottom of the 13th, triggering Conqueror celebrations at the stroke of midnight and ending an evening of dizzying twists and turns.
Including a 13th-inning sprinkler delay, on a night so long that even the teams could barely keep track.
“When they stopped showing them on the scoreboard [past 10 innings], you start to lose count,” Trinity Christian head coach Jon Murphy said.
On the Conquerors’ road back from a five-run deficit, the heroes were many, including gritty outings from infielders-turned-relievers Jordan Martinez and Parker Loew. The two LSU commits combined to pitch the last seven innings, limiting Bishop Snyder to two runs.
Even when the Cardinals pushed ahead in the top of the ninth on a solo homer from Ilias Mamea, it wasn’t game over: Down to their last out, Trinity stayed alive when Aiden Arnett singled to tie it 10-10 in the bottom of the frame. Loew and Chris Reali finished with three hits apiece.
Bishop Snyder (19-6) built a quick 8-3 lead, punishing Trinity miscues with four RBI from shortstop Tripp Hannah and a three-run home run from two-way senior Cole Dennis.
Both schools are on course for first-round home games in FHSAA regionals, which open April 24 for Classes 4A through 7A and April 25 for Classes 1A-3A.
District 1-7A
Creekside bashed 14 hits, four from Aramis Guanchez and three from Connor Balazic, for a 12-4 district championship over Sandalwood (18-9).
Gavin Duprey pitched five innings for the victory for the Knights (23-4). Creekside scored in each of the first five innings, carrying a five-game winning streak into regionals.
District 2-6A
Hudson Sapp’s first-inning grand slam produced all the offense Gainesville Buchholz (19-7) needed, winning 4-2 over Tocoi Creek.
Jacob Collins delivered two sixth-inning RBI for the Toros (14-13), but the Bobcats extinguished the rally. Tommy Glasspoole pitched four innings of shutout relief for Tocoi Creek.
District 3-6A
Zach Bouchard hurled a complete game on the mound and whacked two doubles at the plate to lead Mandarin to the district title, 3-2 over Fletcher (10-16).
The Mustangs (15-12) slammed the door after Fletcher scored in the sixth and seventh innings.
District 3-5A
Nolan Slaymaker’s first-inning grand slam started Columbia on the road to a district championship, 6-2 against visiting Fleming Island (16-10).
Kyler Keen and Tison McCray combined on a four-hitter for the Tigers (16-10).
District 4-5A
Storm Lickliter earned his sixth win of the year and limited Beachside (17-10) to four hits, getting Ponte Vedra off the playoff bubble in a 5-1 victory.
Luca Candella tripled and Madox Tepper doubled during a three-run fifth for the Sharks (17-9-1) to put the game away.
District 3-4A
Florida commit Rylan McMahan struck out 15 batters to lead Clay in a 6-0 shutout of visiting Baker County (15-12).
The Blue Devils (14-13) scored twice in the third inning and four runs in the fourth, including doubles for Clayton Hickey, Ethan Mathis and Peyton McCrae.
District 4-4A
Bishop Kenny scored seven runs in the first three innings and continued its tradition of April success, 9-2 over St. Augustine (14-13).
Caleb Pasko limited the Yellow Jackets to five hits and two runs over 6 1/3 inning, and doubled twice for the Crusaders (15-12).
District 3-3A
Grayson Greene struck out 11 batters and Suwannee clawed back from an early two-run hole for a 4-2 win over Gateway Conference champion Baldwin (15-12).
Baldwin moved ahead on Maxwell Gallagher’s two-RBI single in the first, but struggled to solve Greene afterward. The Bulldogs (16-11) took the lead permanently on Easton O’Quinn’s RBI single in the fourth.
District 4-3A
Junior Preston Matricardi fired a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts over five innings to help Fernandina Beach win the latest county rivalry edition 10-0 over West Nassau (13-14).
Trace Farmer went 3 for 3 with two doubles and three RBI for the Pirates (21-4), who scored in every inning. John Addington also went 3 for 4 with a double.
District 5-3A
Ashton Huerta’s walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted Palatka to a 9-8 extra-inning win over Alachua Santa Fe (9-18).
Mason Malloy homered twice for Palatka (21-6), who built a 21-6 lead before the Raiders rallied. Jackson Ruppert went 3 for 5 with a home run for Santa Fe.
District 3-1A
Landon Jones and Orlando Gutierrez each knocked in three runs for Covenant (13-12), winning an 11-1 run-rule game over Cornerstone Classical (12-10) in five innings.
AJ Fedick earned the win, allowing three hits and a run in 4 1/3 innings. Covenant put the game out of reach in a five-run fourth.
District 4-1A
Only the run rule kept strikeout king Brayden Harris from the 20-K mark in a six-inning 10-0 win over St. Joseph (19-6-1).
Harris hurled a one-hit shutout and struck out 17, only two days after belting three home runs in the regional semifinal against Christ’s Church. Hudson Dantzler, Mason Jones and Hunter Rodgers all doubled as the Spartans (19-8) punished 14 walks.
District 6-R
Erick Lasseter whacked a three-run home run and Kendall Carter went 3 for 3 with two RBI as Union County struck early and won 5-2 over Mayo Lafayette (14-9).
Brady Tetstone pitched five innings for the win for the Fightin’ Tigers (18-7).
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Baseball marathon: How did Trinity Christian win 13-inning epic?
Reporting by Clayton Freeman, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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