Northeast Florida high school baseball second round: Bartram goes deep, Fort White in final four

There's no way to spell Bartram Trail without the sound effect "bam."

The St. Johns County sluggers bashed baseballs over the fence early and often Friday night, defeating Apopka 5-0 in the Florida High School Athletic Association Region 1-7A semifinal at Bear Stadium.

Kolt Myers homered early, and both Justin Nadeau and Alex Lodise added long balls late for the Bears, increasing their team extra-base hit total to 64 on the year. That was more than enough run support for Ashton Pocol, who held the Blue Darters to two hits over 6 1/3 innings before Bryce Kemper entered to seal the game with a pair of strikeouts.

Jacob Kendall also tripled for Bartram Trail. The Bears will play Tuesday at home against Oviedo Hagerty, which eliminated No. 1 seed Lake Brantley in a game delayed repeatedly because of lightning in Central Florida.

Thursday's regionals: Columbia Tigers advance in Class 5A

Saturday's previews: Northeast Florida high school baseball regional second-round previews (2A, 3A, 4A)

REGION 1-6A

Facing not only the top seed in the Region 1-6A bracket, but the top-ranked baseball team in Class 6A, First Coast saw its clock strike midnight, both literally and figuratively.

Jackson McKenzie and Tanner Sauls combined to hold First Coast hitless, lifting Pace to a 10-0 victory and ending the Bucs' season.

Thanks to a weather delay that lasted 3 hours, 27 minutes, Friday's Region 1-6A semifinal from Pace High School didn't see a first pitch thrown until 10:27 p.m. Central (11:27 p.m. Eastern) and ended past midnight in the Panhandle.

Extending its winning streak to nine games, Pace recorded at least one run in every inning. Pace started its attack in the bottom of the first when Parmer cranked a solo home run off Buccaneers starting pitcher Lucas Grayson.

Scoring five runs with the help of three First Coast errors in the second, Pace added a run in the third before Landon Rogers secured the 10-run cushion in the fourth. The senior knocked in two runs with a double while a third run scored on the play after a errant throw.

REGION 3-1A

Next stop, Fort Myers.

Fort White punched its ticket for the final four, rallying past Mayo Lafayette 3-2 in Friday night's Region 3-1A championship. The Indians will next travel to the Class 1A semifinals in Fort Myers on Wednesday.

Tucker Hardee and Dylan Lovelace tallied RBIs for Fort White, which trailed 2-1 to Lafayette entering the sixth before scoring twice.

Fort White starter Jonathan Fischer went the distance on the mound, allowing six hits and no walks while striking out four.

The Times-Union and Pensacola News-Journal

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: High school baseball: 2022 second-round regional playoffs Friday