Sidelines: Baseball teams preparing for postseason play

BASEBALL SEASON WINDING DOWN

With district tournaments scheduled the week of May 2, high school baseball teams are trying to win their final regular-season games to improve their seeding positions.

Matanzas ended a two-game losing streak with a 5-4 win over Taylor on April 21. Jack Rainey and Michael Martinez each had two RBIs in the win. The Pirates will host the District 9-5A tournament at St. Johns River State College in Palatka.

Seabreeze's 4-1 home win over Titusville on April 22 ended the Sandcrabs' string of three straight one-run games. Seabreeze has been involved in seven one-run games this season but have won just two of the contests. Mason Boice had a triple and two walks and scored twice against Titusville. Zachary Banks had a double with a run and an RBI. Rustin Hurley went 2 for 2 to raise his batting average to .360.

Flagler Palm Coast had won three in a row before falling to Jacksonville Trinity Christian 3-0 on April 21. Left-hander Brady Ellison tossed a one-hitter with 11 strikeouts for the Conquerors, who entered the game ranked 11th in the state among all classifications.

The Bulldogs are likely to see some more tough pitching and hitting in the District 1-7A tournament at Creekside. District foes Sandalwood (third) and Bartram Trail (eighth) are ranked in the top 10 among Class 7A teams, while Mandarin is ranked 26th in 7A. FPC's Dalton Schell leads FPC with a .429 average. Jacob Flannigan has seven extra-base hits — five doubles and two triples.

FPC TEAMS EXIT PLAYOFFS

Flagler Palm Coast's boys lacrosse season came to an end April 23 with a 19-6 regional quarterfinal loss at Ponte Vedra. The Bulldogs ended the season with an 11-6 record and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

FPC's girls tennis season also came to an end with a 4-2 regional semifinal loss at Nease on April 19. Anya Subachev and Ania Martynuk won 6-0, 6-1 over Nease's Brooke Albrecht and Maddie Hosking at No. 2 doubles. Martynuk also won the Bulldogs' other point with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Hosking at No. 3 singles. Subachev's No. 2 singles match with Gloria Xiao went to a tiebreaker with Xiao prevailing 6-4, 4-6 (10-2).

Subachev and Martynuk lost just one match at No. 2 doubles all season. That match was shortened because of darkness.

KEEPING UP WITH JONES

Seabreeze senior Dante Jones will be a linebacker on Briar Cliff University's football team next season. This season, he has been concentrating on a couple of other athletic specialties.

He competed at the Class 2A state weightlifting championships in the snatch competition in the 219-pound class. His 180-pound lift surpassed his qualifying mark by five pounds. Jones is also exhibiting his strength in his other sport. He won the discus title at the Five Star Conference track and field championships with a season-best throw of 140 feet, 10 inches. Jones also competes in shot put.

The Sandcrabs and the Mainland Bucs will compete in the District 6-3A track and field meet Thursday, April 28 at East River High School in Orlando.

Report sports news to Brent Woronoff at [email protected]