One down, one to go.
The top-seeded Buchholz baseball team took care of business on Friday morning in the FHSAA Class 6A state semifinals with a 3-0 win against No. 4 seed Wharton (Tampa) at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.
The Bobcats (33-2) will play No. 2 seed St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) at 2 p.m. on Saturday for the Class 6A state title. The Raiders (28-6-1) mercy-ruled Bloomingdale (Valrico), 15-0 in four innings, in the other state semifinal.
Saturday’s state championship game will be broadcast online (free audio) at Mainstreet Daily News beginning at 1:45 p.m.
Both teams are nationally ranked, setting the stage for a winner-take-all game between two of the top three teams in Class 6A. Buchholz, which is ranked No. 1 in 6A, beat No. 2 Pace, also nationally ranked, on the road to advance to Fort Myers.
“For us, this game is really, really important for our alumni, for our past baseball players, for our past coaches, for our school,” said Buchholz baseball coach Ron Brooks. “If we were fortunate enough to win a state title, the first one for Buchholz baseball, man what it would mean for our school and program…just to be able to have those alumni and those former baseball players and coaches and community really proud of us would mean a whole heck of a lot.”
Brooks started Jacksonville University signee J.J. Gardner on the mound and brought Wyatt Clarke in as a reliever because “we really wanted two seniors on the mound today to kind of get us where we needed to be…I feel really good about how we line up pitching-wise tomorrow.”
The duo combined on a six-hitter and shut out the Wildcats (27-8) for the first time this season.
With Gardner getting the start in the state semifinals, it allows Brooks to go to junior Aidan Kastensmidt (12-1, 2.22 ERA) for Saturday’s game.
“Looks like it,” Brooks said. “We’ll re-evaluate and talk to everybody, but I think if you look back at us and you’re the other team, you’re probably thinking that same thing too, right?”
In their first-ever state championship game appearance last year, Buchholz lost to Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens), 10-3, in the title game.
“Last year we were just kind of glad to be here, but this year this is why we’re here,” said junior second baseman Blake Brewer. “We didn’t come to win the final four. We’re going to give it everything tomorrow and win a state championship.”
Brewer made some big plays at second, including an inning-ending double play in the fifth inning. And Gardner did his part on the mound on Friday, tossing 4.1 innings and allowing no runs on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts to send the ‘Cats back to the title game.
“It’s amazing,” said Gardner. “The mentality last year was first time even being in the final four, so it was a big opportunity for us last year, but I think this year we’re coming in with a different mindset and kind of coming in with a chip on our shoulders…we’ve seen how the next game can go and I think that’s going to help us out a lot going forward for tomorrow.”
In 2024, the Bobcats crushed Bloomingdale (Valrico), 12-0, in the state semifinals, but Dwyer pounced on the ‘Cats early in the title game, jumping out to a 6-0 lead after 1½ innings.
“I think it definitely motivates us (loss),” Brooks said. “With this group coming back and the way that I thought we could play, we’ve talked about goals, we’ve talked about district first, regionals second, and state, but this was really on our mind. I’m really proud of our guys to put us in this situation where we can get that taste out of our mouth.”
Aquinas is ranked No. 22 in the country by MaxPreps, while the Bobcats are ranked 10th nationally.
“Every play will be a dog fight, and if we’re fortunate enough to win, that would be great, but to give us another chance to be back and kind of redeem ourselves, I’m really proud of our guys because it’s not easy,” Brooks said. “For us just to be back is a great accomplishment, and now we need to finish the job and see if we can.”