Mike Ridaught
Today’s senior spotlight is on Cade Welborn of the Williston baseball team.
Welborn, who played shortstop, second base, and pitcher, is versatile with the ability to play any position. In fact, over the course of his four-year career with the Red Devils’ baseball team, he played every position but catcher.
Last year Williston won the Class 1A state baseball title. The Red Devils beat Union County to win the Class 1A-District 6 title, then beat Hamilton County 11-1 in five innings in the regional semifinals. The Red Devils held on to beat Madison County, 3-2, in the regional finals, and rallied for four runs in the sixth to beat Sneads 4-2 in the 1A state semifinals.
Cade’s favorite baseball memory was being the winning pitcher of record in the 2019 state championship game.
Williston won the Class 1A state title by beating Levy County rival Chiefland in the final, 4-2, to cap a 21-9 season. He entered in the fourth inning with the game tied 2-2 and pitched three and a third innings, allowing no runs on just one hit, with no walks and two strikeouts. He was also 1-for-2 at the plate. It marked Williston’s third state baseball title in six years. They won back-to-back in 2014 and 2015.
Welborn also played football as a freshman for the Red Devils. He was a member of Future Farmers of America and the National Honor Society.
On the diamond, his senior campaign was off to a great start.
He was batting .417 with 10 hits and seven runs scored in nine games played. His 10 runs driven in were tied for the team lead. One of his best games this season was against Dixie County on March 3rd. Cade was 3-for-4 with a run scored and two runs driven in. He was also 2-2 on the mound with a 3.09 earned run average.
Welborn will be attending trade school and has a career goal in mind.
If you or someone you know is a graduating senior who participated in spring sports this season, we want to hear from you. You can either send us an audio shout out which we will play on the radio, or send us your bio and I will voice it for you. For more information, please email mike@ThePrepZone.com.
Mike Ridaught is the founder and publisher of ThePrepZone.com, the foremost website for high school sports in northeast Florida.