Mike Ridaught
Last week a total of 10 area teams took home district titles, clinching a spot in this week’s regional tournaments.
On Friday, those teams learned their new destination when the Florida High School Athletic Association announced the regional contests.
The FHSAA baseball playoffs get underway on Tuesday (baseball), followed by softball on Wednesday (softball).
Three area baseball teams (Newberry, Williston and Buchholz) claimed district titles on Thursday, while Santa Fe (Alachua), P.K. Yonge and Trenton fell short in the championship game.
Oak Hall and Columbia (Lake City) won district titles on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, No. 3 seed Oak Hall will host No. 6 seed Eagle’s View (Jacksonville) in a Class 2A-Region 1 Quarterfinal. The game will be broadcast online (audio only) at Mainstreet Daily News beginning at 4 p.m. The first pitch is at 4:15 p.m.
The Eagles (17-5), who have one of the better offenses in the area, mercy-ruled St. Francis Catholic, 11-1, in six innings to win the 2A-District 4 title.
Columbia, which blanked Lincoln (Tallahassee), 9-0, to win the 5A-District 2 title, will host Pine Forest (Pensacola) in a Class 5A-Region 1 Quarterfinal at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
Santa Fe, which lost 6-3 to Tocoi Creek (St. Augustine) in the 4A-District 4 title game, earned an at-large bid. The No. 4 seed Raiders (18-9) will travel to No. 5 seed Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville), which won the 4A-District 3 title.
The Class 1A and 6A playoffs are on Wednesday.
Newberry won the Class 1A-District 7 title with a 1-0 win against Trenton. The Panthers (14-8) defeated Dixie County (Cross City), 3-1, in the district semifinals.
Trenton (19-7) advanced to the district championship game with a 9-3 win against Chiefland.
Dixie County, which advanced to the final four last year for the first time in program history, narrowly missed the postseason. The other three earned a spot in Wednesday’s Class 1A-Region 4 Semifinals.
Williston, which won the 1A-District 8 title, is the No. 4 seed and will travel to top seed Newberry, while No. 2 seed Trenton will host No. 3 seed Chiefland in a rematch of the district semifinals.
Union County (Lake Butler), which lost 9-8 to Lafayette (Mayo) in the 1A-District 6 title game, is the No. 2 seed in 1A-Region 3 and will host No. 3 seed Madison County.
Buchholz, which shut out Fleming Island (Orange Park), 9-0, to win the 6A-District 3 title, earned the No. 2 seed in 6A-Region 1 and will host No. 7 Gulf Breeze at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
The game will be broadcast online (audio only) at Mainstreet Daily News beginning at 6:45 p.m.
The high school softball playoffs will begin on Wednesday. Five area teams took home softball district titles.
Keystone Heights won the 3A-District 3 tournament as the No. 3 seed. The Indians (9-17) won three straight games, including a 10-0 win against Taylor (Pierson) in five innings to clinch a postseason berth.
They earned the No. 7 seed and will host No. 2 seed Florida High (Tallahassee), which is ranked seventh in Class 3A by MaxPreps.
Santa Fe (Alachua), which won the 3A-District 5 title with a 5-4 win against Trinity Catholic (Ocala), earned the No. 5 seed and will host No. 4 seed Crystal River in a Class 3A-Region 2 Quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Class 5A-District 2 runner-up Columbia is the No. 7 seed and will travel to No. 2 seed Deltona on Thursday.
The Class 1A state playoffs get underway on Thursday.
Fort White upset top seed Branford, 7-0, to win the 1A-District 6 title. The Bucs (22-4), who were ranked No. 2 in the state in 1A by MaxPreps, will get another shot at the Indians (10-9).
However, this time the two teams will play in Fort White.
Trenton and Dixie County will have a rematch of their 1A-District 7 championship game, won by the Bears, 4-3, in nine innings.
No. 2 seed Dixie County will host No. 3 seed Trenton in one Class 1A-Region 4 Semifinal, while top seed Williston will host No. 4 seed Newberry in the other semifinal.
Softball
All games start at 7 p.m. unless noted
Wednesday, May 10
Class 4A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
2 Florida High (Tallahassee) at 7 Keystone Heights
Class 3A-Region 2 Quarterfinals
4 Crystal River at 5 Santa Fe (Alachua)
Thursday, May 11
Class 5A-Region 1 Quarterfinal
7 Columbia (Lake City) at 2 Deltona
Class 1A-Region 3 Semifinals
1 Branford at 4 Fort White
Class 1A-Region 4 Semifinals
4 Newberry at 1 Williston
3 Trenton at 2 Dixie County (Cross City)
Baseball
Tuesday, May 9
Class 2A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
6 Eagle’s View (Jacksonville) at 3 Oak Hall, 4:15 p.m. – Game will be broadcast online (audio only) at MainStreetDailyNews.com beginning at 4 p.m.
Class 4A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
4 Santa Fe (Alachua) at 5 Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville)
Class 5A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
Pine Forest (Pensacola) at Columbia (Lake City)
Wednesday, May 10
Class 6A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
7 Gulf Breeze at 2 Buchholz – Game will be broadcast online (audio only) at MainStreetDailyNews.com beginning at 6:45 p.m.
Class 1A-Region 3 Semifinals
3 Madison County at 2 Union County (Lake Butler)
Class 1A-Region 4 Semifinals
4 Williston at 1 Newberry
3 Chiefland at 2 Trenton
Friday, May 12 – Regional Semifinals (2A-5A), TBD
Saturday, May 13 – Regional Semifinals (6A) & 1A Finals, TBD