The most exciting three weeks of the high school baseball season is finally here.
It’s the time for the FHSAA postseason. It begins Friday, April 24, and Saturday, April 25, for the region quarterfinals.
After moving to a new three-game format last season, the FHSAA is altering the format once again. The region quarterfinals are now back to a one-game format. The regional semifinals and finals will remain three games, but all battles will hosted by the higher seed.
The Rural Class skips the quarterfinals due to just four teams per region making the playoffs, so it is Class 1A-7A for the opening weekend.
The region semifinals sees all classes playing and the return of the three-game playoffs.
Keep it here for all scores:
Region Final
No. 2 Buchholz at No. 1 Pace — Class 6A-Region 1
Bad weather at Pace impacted the schedule for this highly-anticipated series. Game 1 will start between 8:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. local time). The times for the rest of the games is undetermined at the moment as poor weather is expected for the remainder of the weekend.
No. 3 Williston at No. 1 Trenton — Rural-Region 4
Game 1 will be Friday at 7 p.m. Game 2 is Saturday at 1 p.m., with an “if-necessary” Game 3 immediately after. All three contests will be at Trenton.
No. 3 Lafayette at No. 1 Union County — Rural-Region 3
Game 1 will be Friday at 7 p.m. Game 2 is Saturday at 1 p.m., with an “if-necessary” Game 3 immediately after. All three contests will be in Lake Butler.
Region Semifinals
No. 4 Dixie County at No. 1 Trenton — Rural-Region 4
The Tigers rolled past the Bears and didn’t even need to play Saturday, with games 1 and 2 Friday. Trenton won both games by a combined 27-2. Pierston Weatherlit had a combined seven RBIs through two games — both run rule wins.
No. 3 Williston at No. 2 Marathon — Rural-Region 4
With a LONG road trip, the Red Devils dug deep and took two of three from the Dolphins. Williston took Game 1 9-6, with three RBIs from Aidan Phillips. Marathon responded with a Game 2 win Saturday 2-1, but Phillips and Wyatt Davis combined for four RBIs in a 9-4 Game 3 win.
No. 3 St. Francis Catholic at No. 2 Mount Dora Christian — Class 2A-Region 1
The Wolves were competitive in an 11-8 Game 1 loss, but the Bulldogs cruised to a 17-3 Game 2 win to end the SFCA’s season.
No. 6 Oakleaf at No. 2 Buchholz — Class 6A-Region 1
Like Trenton, Buchholz didn’t need to play Saturday. Zac Brown hit a two-run homer in a 5-3 Game 1 win, and the Bobcats won easily 7-1 to clinch the series over the sixth-seeded Knights.
No. 4 Madison County at No. 1 Union County — Rural-Region 3
It might have only been by a combined four runs, but the Fightin’ Tigers swept the Cowboys. Nate Roberson had a double and two RBIs in the 7-6 win.
No. 3 Lafayette at No. 2 Aucilla Christian — Rural-Region 3
In a “down year,” the Hornets waited until Saturday to finish off its series over Aucilla Christian, and despite a Game 2 loss, Lafayette won Game 3 12-8. Lathan Garrard had two doubles and two RBIs, while Trevor Byrd drove in three.
Region Quarterfinals
No. 3 St. Francis Catholic 11, No. 6 Lake Mary Prep 3 — Class 2A-Region 1; Saturday, April 25
For the second year in a row, the Wolves advanced to the region semifinals. Against the visiting sixth-seeded Griffins, SFCA was tied at three heading into the bottom of the fifth. But then the Wolves scored eight unanswered in that inning. The bottom of the lineup, Cyrus Fariborzion and Andy Janelle, combined for six RBIs to put the game completely out of reach.
No. 1 Orangewood Christian 7, No. 8 Oak Hall — Class 2A-Region 1; Saturday, April 25
The Eagles knew they’d be in for a tough test at the top-seeded Rams, and Orangewood Christian lived up to the test. Max Sakala shined on the mound as the Eagles were held to three hits. Orangewood had just four hits, but OH committed four hours.
No. 3 Mosley 5, No. 6 Columbia 2 — Class 4A-Region 1; Friday, April 24
The third-seeded Dolphins needed to travel to the sixth-seeded district champion Tigers, but they made their statement in the first inning. Mosley tallied five runs in that first frame, helped by three Columbia errors. CHS finally scored two in the bottom of the seventh, but it was too little too late.
No. 2 Buchholz 12, No. 7 Mandarin 2 — Class 6A-Region 1; Friday, April 24
The second-seeded Bobcats rolled past Mandarin to advance to their fourth straight region quarterfinals. Buchholz fell behind 2-0 in the first inning, but it tallied seven runs in the bottom of the first, capped off by Drew Almond’s grand slam. Six of the nine BHS hitters drove in runs. Aidan Kastensmidt shut down the Mustangs after that first inning, and Coen Laffler finished the game off in the sixth.
Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at nram@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1 and on Instagram @Ramreporter.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: FHSAA high school baseball | Live playoff scores for Gainesville-area teams
Reporting by Noah Ram, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
