Ridaught: Tentative baseball district not very well received

Three area baseball teams that advanced to a state title game this past spring face a much more difficult task to return.

That’s based on the tentative FHSAA district assignments that came out last week.

Buchholz, which won a fourth straight district title and advanced to its third straight final four this year, will have a challenging district.

The Bobcats will move into Class 6A-District 3 (Region 1), but two new teams in the district, Flagler Palm Coast and Spruce Creek (Port Orange), are among four newcomers dropping down from Class 7A.

In fact, both teams made the state playoffs this past year.

Spruce Creek (26-5) defeated Flagler Palm Coast (16-11), 11-1, in the 7A-Region 1 Quarterfinals before losing to eventual state semifinalist Hagerty (Oviedo) in three games in the regional semifinals.

“While our goal of winning a state championship won’t change, there’s no doubt the path to get there has now become much more difficult,” said Buchholz coach Chris Malphurs, who finished runner-up in the voting for the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 6A Coach of the Year. “When you look at the names in the new 6A, our new region and even our new district, you’re going to find some of the most successful programs across not just Florida, but the nation.”

DeLand (12-13) also moves down from Class 7A to join the 7-team district, which includes Forest (Ocala), Mainland (Daytona Beach), which moves up from 5A, and West Port (Ocala), which was also in 7A this year.

“I’ve always believed in playing a tough schedule, but with these changes we plan on leaning into that philosophy even more,” Malphurs said. “With regular season matchups against Stoneman Douglas (Parkland), Spruce Creek, St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale), to name a few, we are either going to be battle tested entering the 2027 playoffs or know exactly where we need to improve to compete at the highest level in Florida. Our kids and coaches want to compete against the best and that’s what we plan on doing.”

Only Forest, which lost at Buchholz, 5-0, in the 6A-District 2 semifinals, remains in the same district with the Bobcats.

But the biggest head-scratcher involves FHSAA Rural state champion Union County (Lake Butler) and state runner-up Trenton.

They are being placed in the same district for the next two years.

This past spring, Trenton won the Rural-District 7 title while Union County won the Rural-District 6 championship. However, they were in separate regions, which is why they were both able to advance to the final four at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.

Union County swept Madison County at home in the Rural-Region 3 Semifinals and swept Lafayette (Mayo) at home in the Rural-Region 3 Final to advance to Fort Myers.

Trenton swept Dixie County (Cross City) and Williston at home to advance to its third straight final four.

The four teams were reseeded, with Union County at No. 1 and Trenton at No. 2, ensuring an all-Tigers final. The top two seeds took care of business in the semifinals, and we had an all-Tigers final.

In case you missed it, Trenton was one strike away from winning its first state title in almost 10 years. Instead, Union County scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to send the game into extra innings, then walked it off in the bottom of the eighth inning to win it, 10-9.

But based on the FHSAA’s tentative spring sport classifications for the next two years, Trenton and Union County will compete in the same district, meaning someone won’t get back to Fort Myers.

“I don’t like the new district alignment one bit, mainly because of us and Trenton being in the same district,” said Union County coach Jiwan James. “If we’re in different districts and regions like this past year, I probably have no issue. We just played arguably one of the best state championship games in FHSAA history and then they turn around and put us in the same district.”

It was certainly unexpected, and there is no question that the title game was epic.

“I’d like to hear the reasoning behind it for sure,” James said. “There’s no way we should be stopping one another from getting back to Fort Myers and having a chance at a repeat matchup, after the game we just played in the finals. That’s not to disrespect any other teams in our class, either, that are gunning for the same thing. I’m just speaking off of the game we just played and I’m sure folks want to see it again if it were possible.”

James is not the only coach who doesn’t like the new Rural-District 6, which consists of Bell, Branford, Dixie County (Cross City), Fort White, Hilliard, Trenton and Union County.

“Chiefland and Williston are the two local schools they removed from our districts,” said Trenton coach Chris Marlo. “Yeah, the new district doesn’t make much sense. They took two schools out of our district that these kids have grown up playing against and that are 20-30 minutes away, and then they decided to add a team that we just played in the finals, so obviously they don’t want both of us going back, and not to mention they are over an hour away and the other school they added is over two hours away. How is that our district?”

There is an appeals process. The deadline to appeal is Friday, July 3. For tentative schedules for other spring sports, visit www.fhsaa.com.

2027 Tentative Baseball District Assignments

Area teams in bold

Class Rural – Region R3 – District 6
Bell
Branford
Dixie County (Cross City)
Fort White
Hilliard
Trenton
Union County (Lake Butler)

Class Rural – Region R4 – District 7
Bronson
Chiefland
Crescent City
Hawthorne
Taylor (Pierson)
Wildwood
Williston

Class 1A – Region R1 – District 4
Countryside Christian (Gainesville)
First Baptist (Palm Coast)
Peniel Baptist (Palatka)
Saint Francis Catholic Academy (Gainesville)

Class 2A – Region R1 – District 3
Interlachen
Oak Hall School (Gainesville)
P. K. Yonge (Gainesville)
St. Joseph (St. Augustine)

Class 3A – Region 1 – District 2
Bozeman (Panama City)
Florida High (Tallahassee)
Gadsden County (Havana)
North Bay Haven (Panama City)
Rutherford (Panama City)
Suwannee (Live Oak)

Class 3A – Region R1 – District 4
Baker County (Glen St. Mary)
Bradford (Starke)
Eastside (Gainesville)
Keystone Heights
Palatka
Santa Fe (Alachua)
Newberry

Class 4A – Region R1 – District 3
Columbia (Lake City)
Ed White (Jacksonville)
Paxon (Jacksonville)
Ribault (Jacksonville)
Riverside (Jacksonville)
Stanton (Jacksonville)
Yulee

Class 5A – Region R1 – District 3
Clay (Green Cove Springs)
Gainesville
Middleburg
Oakleaf (Orange Park)
Orange Park
Ridgeview (Orange Park)

Class 6A – Region R1 – District 3
Buchholz (Gainesville)
DeLand
Flagler Palm Coast
Forest (Ocala)
Mainland (Daytona Beach)
Spruce Creek (Port Orange)
West Port (Ocala)