- Saint Francis Catholic Academy baseball team is 14-4, ranked 13th in Class 1A, and aims for the No. 1 seed in 1A-District 5 with four games left.
- Gainesville softball will host top-ranked Trenton, the two-time defending Rural state champion, on Thursday at 7 p.m.
- Buchholz baseball, ranked No. 2 in 6A-Region 1, faces Santa Fe at 7 p.m. Friday after an 8-6 start and a recent loss to Bishop Kenny.
After a week off from locally owned Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville due to spring break, “The Prep Zone Sports Show” returns tonight from 6 to 7 p.m. on NW 39th Avenue.
Join Mainstreet Daily News Sports Director Mike Ridaught as he talks high school sports. His guests for this episode include first-year Saint Francis Catholic Academy baseball coach Chris Santamarina and members of the Wolves baseball team.
The Wolves got back in the win column after last week’s loss against Episcopal in Jacksonville with a 7-3 win on Tuesday against P.K. Yonge to sweep the two-game series. Saint Francis Catholic won the first meeting, 8-1, on March 6.
Currently, the Wolves are 14-4 and ranked 13th in Class 1A in Tuesday’s FHSAA rankings. They are on track to get the No. 1 seed in 1A-District 5 with just four regular-season games remaining.
The show will be broadcast online (audio only) at MainStreet Daily News and ThePrepZone.com.
At 7 p.m. on Thursday, the Gainesville softball team will host top-ranked and two-time defending Rural state champion Trenton (12-1).
Trenton, which knocked off Class 3A No. 2 Santa Fe (Alachua) on Tuesday night, 4-3, in nine innings, won the first meeting against Gainesville, 8-1, on Feb. 19 in Trenton.
Texas A&M commit Leanna Bourdage didn’t pitch that game for the Hurricanes, but Trenton is expecting to see her go against their ace, Addison Allaire, who is a University of Florida commit.
“Thursday is going to be another big one,” said Trenton softball coach Kevin Benson. “I hope we get to see Bourdage. The whole point of playing these big teams like this is to see this really good pitching and test our girls. That’s what makes us better. I expect to see her, and I expect it to be another really tough game.”
Allaire, who had 16 strikeouts against GHS in the first meeting, went against the No. 1 freshman pitcher in the country, Santa Fe’s Rylee Swilley, and threw all nine innings with 13 strikeouts on Tuesday.
“If Addi is feeling good and Addi is ready to go, Addi is going to throw for us, and it would be great to see two big heavyweights in the circle,” Benson said. “Again, it makes for great softball, fun softball too, and they’ve got a good, talented team that’s going to compete, and I expect us to go over there and compete ourselves.”
GHS (6-6), which will look to snap a two-game losing streak following Tuesday night’s 6-4 loss at Suwannee (Live Oak), is currently ranked 14th in Class 5A and they narrowly lead the 5A-District 5 standings ahead of Deltona and Belleview.
You can listen to the game online (audio only) at Mainstreet Daily News beginning at 6:45 p.m. with Marty Pallman (Play-by-play) and Ridaught (Color) calling the action.
Then at 7 p.m. on Friday, join Pallman and former Buchholz baseball coach Ron Brooks on the call as Santa Fe hosts Buchholz.
This is the first of two meetings between the Raiders and the Bobcats, who will host Santa Fe at noon on Saturday. Buchholz is 12-2 vs. Santa Fe since 2006.
Buchholz has made back-to-back Class 6A state championship game appearances, but the Bobcats are off to a slow start at 8-6 heading into tonight’s game at Fleming Island (Orange Park). However, their 14.41 strength of schedule puts them at No. 2 in 6A-Region 1 behind Pace.
The Bobcats are looking to bounce back from their last game, a 6-1 loss at Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) last Tuesday.
The host Raiders (4-11) have lost three in a row, which began with an extra-inning 5-4 loss at Newberry on March 10. They will host the Panthers at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
Audio coverage of Friday’s game begins at 6:45 p.m. on Mainstreet Daily News.