- April 26, 2026
Spruce Creek's Ryder Ritch (11) watches his second home run of the game clear the center field fence, out of the reach of FPC center fielder Marion Clayton, as Ritch runs to first base. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Spruce Creek dugout empties and Ryder Ritch rounds the bases with his second home run of the game. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Nick Pandich watches the pitch as he takes a lead off first. Pandich had two of FPC's three hits. Marion Clayton had the other with a home run to right field in the third inning. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Kameron Roberts, Carson Flis and Jordan Gonzalez meet at the mound to start the bottom of the fifth. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Kameron Roberts walks to the mound in the fifth inning. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Kameron Roberts warms up before the bottom of the fifth inning. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Kameron Roberts warms up before the bottom of the fifth inning. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Kameron Roberts throws a pitch in the fifth inning. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Justin Cronin's third hit of the game in the fifth inning was the game winner by the 10-run rule. Cronin drove in Joe Christen to give the Hawks an 11-1 victory.
Spruce Creek's Justin Cronin hit an RBI-single in the bottom of the fifth inning to end the game. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC center fielder Marion Clayton (23) hugs Spruce Creek pitcher Braden Myers after the game. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC batter Nick Pandich watches a ball in the fifth. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Nick Pandich takes a lead off first base in the fifth inning. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The final game of the season always brings farewells. After Flagler Palm Coast’s loss to Spruce Creek in the Region 1-7A baseball quarterfinal, Bulldogs coach Kyle Marsh had to say goodbye to five seniors who helped build the program.
Marsh is in his fourth year with the team and most of the seniors came into the program with him. During that time, FPC has reached the playoffs three out of four years. But Marsh’s relationship with some of the seniors goes back much farther.
Some of them I’ve coached since they were 10 years old. So it makes it a little harder.
— KYLE MARSH, FPC baseball coach
“Some of them I’ve coached since they were 10 years old,” Marsh said. “So it makes it a little harder.”
Third baseman Carson Flis and Jordan Gonzalez were on Marsh’s travel team, Florida Extreme, when they were 10. Nole Hemmerle guest-played with the team occasionally and Marion Clayton was on other travel teams that played against the Extreme.
The other senior, pitcher Reggie Bass, transferred from Matanzas after his sophomore year. Bass has signed to play for Florida A&M next season, while Clayton has signed with Jacksonville University and Gonzalez and Hemmerle are headed to Brewton-Parker, an NAIA school in Mount Vernon, Georgia.
“This is probably the most in a year that we’ve had go on to play in college,” Marsh said. “It's cool to see the program building and it’s all to these guys. They worked their butts off, and they've really turned this program around for the future.”
The Bulldogs finished the season with a 16-11 record, their most wins since 2023 when they were 16-14.
Their season ended with an 11-1 five-inning loss at Creek on Friday, April 24. The Hawks (25-3) scored seven runs in the fourth inning. Creek’s Ryder Ritch hit two home runs to deep center field — a two-run shot in the fourth and a solo shot leading off the fifth.
“It wasn't our night,” Marsh said. “We just got to get back on the grind and get ready for next year. [The Hawks] had a good approach. They hit the ball very well, and that pitcher [Evan Dyett] did a great job on the mound. They played the better game.”
Dyett allowed three hits in five innings. He struck out six. FPC’s only run came on Clayton’s seventh home run of the season. His shot to right field tied the score at 1-1 in the third inning.
Bass allowed 10 hits in 3.2 innings and struck out seven batters. He allowed nine runs but only four were earned. Kameron Roberts relieve Bass with two outs in the fourth.
The Hawks won by the 10-run rule on Justin Cronin’s RBI single with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Creek will host Oviedo Hagerty in a best-of-three region semifinal series on May 1-2.
“The guys had a good year,” Marsh said. “They showed up every day and competed. And that's the only thing you can ask for out of a team, is give everything they got. And they did that. They left their mark on the program forever. I'm just grateful to be able to coach the guys. I'm grateful that they had a chance to be part of the program, trusting in us. And there's not much to hang your head about. They did a lot this year that we haven't done in the past.”
Saying goodbye to the seniors, some Marsh has known for eight years, won't be easy.
“It has been an honor to be able to coach them throughout high school and see them grow and become the men they are today,” he said. “I wish them nothing but the best, and I can't wait to see what their future holds.”
Seabreeze's baseball season ended on April 24 with an 11-1 five-inning loss to top seed Winter Springs in the Region 2-5A quarterfinals.
The Sandcrabs took an early lead with a run in the top of the first inning as Nathaniel Anderson and Wrigley Zweifel hit back-to-back base hits and courtesy runner Jacob McKinnon scored on a double steal.
But the Bears knocked seven hits, including three doubles, and took advantage of five Seabreeze errors and five hit-by-pitches to score runs in four of the five innings. The host team scored three runs each in the first and fourth innings and ended the game with a four-run fifth.
Chance Baisden's two-run single, his third hit of the game, pushed the winning run across with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Seabreeze starter Tommy Hayes gave up seven runs in 3.1 innings, but just two were earned.
The Bears will host Cypress Creek (21-5) in a best-of-three regional semifinal series on May 1-2.
Seabreeze ended its season at 11-15 but won its district championship for the second straight year and the third time in the past four years.
The Sandcrabs will return most of their team next year. They graduate four seniors — McKinnon, Hayes, JT Gilbert and Austin Upchurch.
