![Newberry Tavis Honeycutt (22) tries to beat the throw to second during an FHSAA baseball game at Newberry High School in Newberry, FL on Friday, February 27, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://bluewaterhealthyliving.com/wp-content/uploads/Reuters_RSS_API_Media/FL/newsml_MT1USDAYNETFLP88910699007-297334927.jpg)
The diamond is ready! High school baseball season is officially here in the Gainesville-area.
Buchholz has been the standard bearer of baseball excellence in the area with back-to-back state championship game appearances, but the Bobcats are off to a slow start to begin 2026.
Fellow Final Four team from 2025 — Trenton — is experiencing no such struggles as the Tigers look like the area’s best team this season. Columbia is off to a strong start as well, and then there’s Newberry, which is led by Florida baseball commit Tavis Honeycutt.
Other programs such as Union County, St. Francis Catholic and even Oak Hall don’t want to be lost in the shuffle.
Enough talk about what to expect, it’s time to determine who is the best of the best. Below is a poll to decide the best baseball player in the Gainesville area. There are 33 nominees to choose from. The poll is open until Sunday, March 8 at 12 p.m., and you can vote as many times as you’d like, so please share this poll with friends and family.
Good luck to all!
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. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Vote for the best 2026 HS baseball player in the Gainesville-area
Reporting by Noah Ram, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
